Final Fantasy VIII: Rise of the Sorceress
by SilentStorm14
Summary: They can feel it in the wind; it whispers of a war as old as time itself. The children of fate must end that which plagues the world, and one particular youth will learn that scars truly do last a lifetime. Sequel to FFVIII. Please R&R!
1. Prologue: The Dream

_When you think about it, facing your fears makes you hesitant._

_Knowing you may not be alive tomorrow can make your heart beat. _

_Admitting that your pride may be in danger fills your soul in dread. _

_Mankind shelters itself from such things; it's almost as if it never existed. But it's there and it's alive. This feeling most dare not talk about eats us around the edges our entire lives until there is nothing left to shield ourselves from it. _

_Something I'd rather not talk about, or even feel and I curse myself for ever feeling something like this. I can just simply ignore its existence, that way I won't get hurt. I'd rather not feel anything than drown in self-pity every night. _

_That's why… that's why I sheltered myself from this feeling for so long. Even now I still refuse to know it exists. It's something I can't escape, I keep running but when my walls come down… it'll catch me._


	2. Episode 1: New Game

It was dark. That was all his mind could comprehend besides the rapid beating of his heart deep inside his chest. Slowly his eyes closed in an effort to steady his shaky hands and, ignoring the cold sweat that crept down his spine, laid back into his bed hoping for a dreamless sleep.

The next time his eyes opened sunlight was trying to enter through the crevices of the blinds located over his bed. The figure stared up at the ceiling in a blank stare but then frowned. His ears seemed to twitch in annoyance to a loud pounding at his door.

"Squall, are you awake yet?"

Squall Leonhart turned away from the door, grumbling from under his sheets. _"Go away Zell"_

"I'm not leaving until I give you my message!" Said the overly hyperactive cadet from the other side.

Squall gave a heaving sigh in defeat. He knew very well Zell wouldn't leave until his task was accomplished.

He waited silently for Zell to speak again.

"President Laguna of Esthar has requested that SeeD come over to do 'clean up duty' early today, that's all. I gotta go freshen up, see ya on the Ragnarok Squall!"

Squall could just imagine Zell giving a toothy faced grin and the garden salute on the other side.

After hearing Zell's footsteps fade, Squall rose in his bed fully awake. He wiped the remaining bits of sleep away from his hazel eyes and brushed the hair away from them. His feet slowly met the cold floor and he stared at them in thought.

"…_Wonder what he did now._"

One year ago Squall Leonhart was a regular student that attended Balamb Garden. It was known as a military academy that trained SeeD's, top-notch mercenary forces. In a small amount of time Squall was put through many obstacles and trials he had never expected such as leading a rag-tag group of teenagers, opposing a stubborn adversary, remembering the truths of his lonesome past, solving the mystery behind his "dream world" visits, and finally defeating Sorceress Ultimecia, a woman bent on ruling the world through time compression.

During these events a rare phenomenon happened above the land of Esthar: The Lunar Cry. Millions of monsters rained down from the moon onto the helpless city. The same event had wiped out all life on the Centra region hundreds of years ago and to keep the same from happening to Esthar SeeD's were dispatched to take care of the monsters until the streets became safe again.

Squall walked over to his gunblade. When he was branded as a lone wolf in the academy, his first priority became his gunblade. The weapon was only effective in the most determined warriors and Squall's blade always gleamed triumphantly after every battle. He held the weapon up to his face; his eyes seemed to burn through the chestnut hair that had fallen back into place over them, giving color to the griever symbol embedded at the hilt.

He looked away with a serious stare and walked off into the hallways of Balamb.

He had to admit he didn't really care for the overcrowded halls of students lounging around or running to class. It was one thing that had never changed since his arrival as a child.

Squall made his way nonchalantly toward his destination, looking around in a mellow glace in an effort to hide a smile.

"It's weird, I almost miss the disciplinary committee" 

Their special airship, the Ragnarok, was located on the other side of Garden. Laguna had installed a special landing deck for the ship to thank SeeD for their services.

Squall made his way to the pilot's deck, not even caring to glance at the three bodies that surrounded him.

Zell turned around from the cockpit "Ready to go?"

"Yea" Squall replied taking a seat

Zell nodded with a grin and took off smoothly into the sky.

Through the normal silence Squall decided to look up at his companions. It seemed that there was an extra passenger tagging along with them.

He knew it wasn't Selphie; she had gone down to Trabia with Irvine to help with the rebuilding of Trabia Garden. They were currently staying at Hawkwind, a small little town south from the school itself. Currently the only inhabitants there were students, faculty, and volunteers to help rebuild the school. The last Squall knew Selphie and Irvine seemed very happy there. Even through his short visit he could tell Selphie was slowly healing as the school improved.

Luckily, before she left, Selphie had taught Zell how to fly the huge airship. He'd gotten the hang of it pretty well besides one or two accidents in the beginning. Costing the three SeeD's some of their pay.

Quistis was there as well. After defeating Ultimecia Quistis decided to stay a SeeD, even after the headmaster offered to give back her instructors license. She enjoyed being in Squalls group; it made her feel like she was back at home in the orphanage.

The ex-instructor was standing behind Zell, looking out the window to make sure Zell didn't mess up to ease her unsteady mind with his driving. She had been the same way since his first time getting lost and series of crash landings.

And finally…

Rinoa Heartilly, the beautiful sorceress that had captured Squall's heart. She smiled at him and pulled some stray hair behind her ear. Since becoming a sorceress her hair had started growing at an alarming rate, she tried to keep the length relatively short though she was starting to fail at it more than ever.

"You weren't supposed to come" he told her.

"Oh stop it!" Rinoa cried, "I'm practically a SeeD too! I thought it would be alright if I tagged along for once"

Squall shrugged her words off, he wouldn't try to make her go back, and they had no time to turn around. Besides he knew they wouldn't drop her off with out a fight. It was much better to avoid the whole scene altogether.

Seeing the strain between the two, Quistis decided to change the subject for the couple.

"Squall, I finished checking the squads for today's assignment, would you mind looking them over?" She smiled while handing their leader a clipboard full of names and checkmarks.

He looked over them all, skimming to see if everyone was accounted for, and nodded in approval. He looked at his group, then at Rinoa who was waiting for his next move. Squall remained silent and gave the clipboard back to Quistis.

After landing all the SeeDs filed out and waited for the Garden Leader to give the order to leave. At the cockpit Quistis and Squall grabbed their weapons as Zell walked out.

Rinoa was also getting ready to equip her blaster edge when Squall walked over to her.

"You stay here," he said closing the door behind him, not giving her a chance to reply.

"Sir!" cried a SeeD at the bottom of the Ragnarok giving him the garden salute. "All the squads have been assembled. We're waiting for your reply."

Squall nodded in return as the SeeD did another salute and ran off to inform the others. After the SeeDs had left, it was time for Squalls group to leave as well. Quistis and Zell were waiting patiently at the gate.

"Where's Rinoa?" Zell asked curiously.

"The Ragnarok" Squall said walking past them.

"Really?" asked Quistis, "It's not like you to treat her like this Squall"

"_Whatever…_" He thought, "Has someone contacted President Laguna?"

"Yep, already done!" Zell replied with a wide grin "Now come on let's stop talking and go kick some monster butt already!" he said eccentrically pumping his fists into the air.

Quistis agreed by cracking her whip.

The group proceeded into the empty streets. Many of the civilians were inside trying to stay away from the monsters and, more importantly, out of the way of the SeeD's.

It wasn't long until the three had run into a pair of Toramas. The leopard like creatures growled fiercely to announce they were ready for battle. Zell started things off by landing punches on the one to his left while Quistis concentrated on calling a GF. Squall slashed his Gunblade at the other creature, letting the trigger go off as it sliced into the monsters skin. But for some reason Squall's arms stiffened, he was left open for an attack. The Torama in front of him lashed back.

"RUBY LIGHT!" Quistis said when she had found the GF she wanted.

Squall was never as relieved for a GF summoning as he was now. The monster gathered up its power and sent a death curse onto Squall. Suddenly a hole appeared in the ground as a small green monster popped out. Shooting light from the ruby on its head unto the whole party, giving them reflect magic.

The curse bounced off Squall from an invisible force field and back towards the monster that sent it. Unfortunately the death magic had no effect on it. That didn't stop Squall. He finished it off in a few more swipes just as Quistis and Zell worked together to defeat the other one.

Quistis took her whip in hands and stretched. "Well that was a nice warm up wouldn't you say?" she asked smiling,

"Alright who's next!?" Zell cried jumping up and down.

Squall took no notice to their actions and continued onward down the street, leaving his two companions behind in bewilderment.

"What the hell is his problem?" asked Zell.

"I'm not sure. He's been acting very strange lately" Quistis replied biting her nail.

"You mean like he used to act" Zell muttered under his breath.

The Gunblade specialist sulked down the empty streets alone, thinking. He didn't expect nor want Quistis and Zell to follow him.

Even though he wanted to be by himself, he knew he had a job to do. He decided to look for a monster to help the group out.

To his luck he found a stray Glacial Eye floating around the streets. He took no hesitation when it saw him and the monster came in also ready to fight. After a few swipes of his Lionheart Gunblade, Squall was getting the upper hand. But then something unexpected happened: his trigger had stopped going off. Had he run out of bullets? How could he have forgotten to re-equip his weapon before leaving Quistis and Zell behind?

He got ready as for the second time that day he was caught off guard by a monster.

It plunged at him ready to maul him with damage, when suddenly a huge twirling object made in the form of multiple angel wings shot the monster from its path. The weapon returned like a boomerang to the arm of its master, Rinoa.

Squall took notice of the monster being knocked out and cut the glacial eye wide open. He turned toward the heroine dressed in blue.

She smiled at him putting her hands on her hips "Need some help?"

Squall slashed his Gunblade in front of him, making an 'X' out of the air, threw it over his shoulder. He shrugged.

Rinoa laughed "It was good I came after all then, I told you I can help" She came over to Squall with a caring smile.

"Come on" she said grabbing his hand "I bet the president wants to see you"

Squall slowly moved with her. Frowning at the thought of seeing Laguna Loir, the goofy president he had been in his dream world visits.


	3. Episode 2: Establishing Trouble

Squall and Rinoa walked up to the enormous colored palace of Esthar. It amazed Squall how advanced Esthar's technology was compared to the rest of the world. Currently President Laguna was going through a very hard political time; being forced to share his country's technology and not to mention being shunned for keeping it isolated for so long.

They waited as the floating disk came down to escort them into the palace, when it reached the top Squall and Rinoa went into the president's office only to be greeted by his two bodyguards and friends, Kiros and Ward.

Kiros bowed and greeted the two "Welcome back, unfortunately Laguna is… busy right now with a little situation."

"_I knew it"_ Squall thought to himself

"If you would like to, please sit down," Kiros also said, speaking for his fellow Ward who had lost all speaking capabilities during the Sorceress War.

Squall didn't hesitate, Rinoa followed suit and sat next to him. He realized that the SeeD's would have to be leaving soon to return to garden. If Laguna didn't show up soon Squall would have to come back early the next day to hear what the president had to tell him.

Minutes passed before Laguna finally entered his office.

Squall looked at him, face completely expressionless. The president looked back and smiled sheepishly, there was no doubt in Squall's mind that something was going on.

"So I see you got my message! Great!" Laguna started off happily, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting so long, so many matters have come up"

The room went quiet as everyone waited for Laguna to tell them more. Even Kiros and Ward were waiting patiently.

"Well it seems that there's a lot of tension going on right now" said the president.

"_That's__ nothing new to me…"_

"As you know, Galbadia's been very quiet lately. Their former president, Vinzer Deling, is gone and Ambassador Edea resigned leaving things in the hands of Seifer"

Squall could remember the night of the parade when the Sorceress Edea, also known as their Matron, killed president Vinzer Deling in front of the worlds very eye. But back then Ultimecia had controlled her. After being released of her awful grasp Edea wanted nothing to do with the Galbadian government.

"But Seifer's been missing for a year now…" Rinoa said catching on; Squall couldn't help but notice her eyes gleam with sadness. Before meeting Squall Rinoa believed that she was in love with Seifer. Even though he had chosen to oppose her she still harbored feelings for him.

Squall couldn't blame the guy for disappearing though, after controlling the Galbadian army almost everyone knew his name, and hated it even more. He was better off.

"Exactly!" said Laguna, breaking Squall's train of thought, "Now we don't know who's running the place, they refuse to make contact with anyone"

"Why did you request SeeD to come early? We could have been fine on the regular schedule for you to tell us that" said Squall.

Laguna laughed and through a huge grin he bellowed, "I know! But I wanted you guys to see Ellone today!"

Squall sighed angrily, he should have known. He could see Kiros and Ward shake their heads at their friend too.

Rinoa was pleased over this news however, perhaps to help keep Squall's anger from becoming apparent to the Esthar President.

"Oh really? I haven't seen her in such a long time, thank you Mr. Loir"

Before Laguna could respond the door in back of him opened up to show a young woman clothed in a light blue dress, a white puffy bow was tied around her waist. Her hair had become shoulder length and she still carried around a beautiful satin green sash that curved around her arms gracefully.

Squall and Rinoa stood up to welcome her.

"It's been such a long time Squall," Ellone smiled shyly.

"Same here" he said, returning her kind smile.

"Ellone, you may not remember me…but…uhm…I'm Rinoa" The girl garbed in blue put her hair behind her ear and held out a hand for Ellone to take.

"Yes I remember you, you're Squalls girlfriend as well am I right?"

Rinoa laughed and nodded her head. Squall ignored their teasing and looked out at the sky that was now colored with brilliant colors of the setting sun.

"We have to go," he said still looking at the sunset. Rinoa agreed and they bid their farewell. Just in time as Laguna was called in for another meeting, probably regarding Galbadia for all Squall knew.

By the time Squall and Rinoa made it back to the airbase all SeeD's were already inside waiting for Squall to return and let them go home. Outside Quistis and Zell greeted the two.

"'Bout time man!" Zell complained.

"Yes, we've been waiting for quite a while Squall, Shall we?" asked Quistis.

Squall nodded and walked towards the Ragnarok, signaling for everyone else to get on.

"Squall!" cried a voice not long after the Ragnarok landed at garden. Squall looked around to see Nida running after him.

"Squall, Hi!" Nida said catching up to the brunette. "I've been looking for you all over!" he said between gasps of air.

"We just got back" was all Squall said, Nida laughed.

"Well, just came to inform you that the SeeD Exam starts soon."

"Have we got a client yet?" Squall asked starting to remember about the exam

"Luckily we just got a client this morning! It's not as exciting as our exam was but it's still as efficient"

"Exciting? Guess you had a better time fighting the back lines than following Seifer…" 

"The SeeD's this year are going to Centra..."

Squall stopped Nida out of surprise "Centra? But it was destroyed years ago."

Nida nodded "Yes, but our client is paying good money to go investigate the ruins down there, we had no choice but to accept!"

"Whatever…" Squall said walking away from the cadet.

"The written test is tomorrow, don't forget!" Nida shouted hoping Squall would still hear him. Squall sighed. _"Still doing things for Xu? Will he ever learn?"_

Squall took the opportunity to get some time alone and headed to his room. The earlier events of the day troubled him. Twice he had almost gotten himself hurt in battle from monsters that were hardly a threat to him. 

"_What's wrong with me? I can't be troubled like this all because of…." _He looked over to the door; someone was on the other side knocking to come in.

"Squall?" the voice asked. Squall got up to unlock his door, Rinoa appeared on the other side carrying a tray of assorted foods.

"I thought you'd be in here!" She said smiling "I know you're having a rough day, so I brought you some dinner." Moving aside he let her enter the room, she put the tray gently on his bed and started putting together a meal.

"You must be hungry Squall I haven't seen you eat anything all day! What would you like on your hotdog?"

Squall hesitated to answer "Rinoa… I'm not hungry…"

The girl stopped for a moment to let his words sink in. Slowly she put the food back down on the tray.

"Squall…that's okay! You'll eat when you're hungry right?"

He stared at her. He could admit he felt sorry for her failed efforts, but he didn't feel like having company at the moment.

"Yea, I will…thanks" he finished.

Rinoa smiled and walked up to him, staring into his eyes. He looked back, losing himself in those eyes. For a minute his world had become tranquil, his vision filled with the soft auburn in her eyes, as they became closer all his thoughts vanished. His eyelids started to close…

Suddenly Squall drew away from Rinoa. Quickly, he looked at the floor to hide his expression from her.

"Goodnight…. Rinoa"

"Squall…" Rinoa said worriedly getting closer to him again. He drew back.

"I said goodnight!" He cried still staring at the ground.

Slowly Rinoa walked toward the door, once her hand reached for the knob she looked back at Squall with a hurt look on her face.

"Goodnight…Squall…"


	4. Episode 3: The SeeD Exam:Part One

Early in the morning of a Balamb Garden hallway was the distant footsteps of a young SeeD candidate. He knew he had plenty of time to get to class, but today was a day like no other, it sent chills up his spine just thinking about it.

The written portion of the SeeD Exam, sure, if he passed this one he would have to go through the field Exam, but that was _only_ if he passed. And how did he know he would pass the field Exam as well? Many Students failed miserably every year after the Field exam, making their hopes of becoming SeeD's mere dreams. Why even those who had what it took, like Seifer Almasy who he heard had taken it four times, failed the exam again and again. It was something to be feared, and this student didn't like it.

The brown haired cadet entered the classroom to receive an expected nod from the instructor. He then sat down with his book to get whatever last bits and pieces of information he needed. Soon more students flooded into the classroom. It wasn't long after that that the bell rang and the kids stood around talking about the tension and excitement of possibly becoming a SeeD. The lone boy however took no notice to them as he read his research notes over and over again.

"Good Morning Class!" The instructor greeted.

No one spoke back in return. It seemed they were all getting themselves mentally prepared for the exam.

"Today is the SeeD Exam, please log onto your usernames and wait for further instructions"

The boy put his notes down and sighed as he entered his user data onto the screen.

_Username:KS48245_

_Password: _

_Student KAIN confirmed…_

_Loading please wait…_

As soon as Kain was logged into the system a screen popped up indicating that he was being sent to the test's website.

"You may begin as soon as the questions appear. Good luck."

Kain's gray eyes stared at the screen as it changed to a page full of questions and bubbles. To the side was a timer indicating how long he had to finish before his results were forwarded.

Setting his hands on the keyboard the boy started the exam hoping to pass.

Sunshine warmed his face, welcoming him to another day. Slowly Squall opened his eyes, taking in the scenery of his bedroom. He looked over at his clock and slapped his forehead as punishment.

"_Great. I forgot the written test was today, now I'm late."_

He wasted no time getting ready. Once he was out the door he bolted down the hallway toward the SeeD conference room where Xu, Nida, Quistis, and a couple of other high rank SeeDs greeted him.

"I see Nida's message was in vain after all," Xu teased.

"It's not his fault" Squall said sitting down at a chair.

"Seems like you're just in time though Squall, the results should be coming in very shortly." Said Xu

"Yeah lucky you that we can take care of everything else by ourselves!" Nida said proudly. Xu glared at him, and then looked at the huge computer screen at the end of the room.

"It looks like the files are uploading. Nida, please go over the directions with Squall for this years exam"

Nida nodded and stepped in front of Squall still bearing a proud look on his face. He cleared his throat and started to recite the rules

"This year approximately 235 students are taking the written exam. The exam itself has a limit of 200 questions of multiple answers. Only those with the average of 195 points or higher can pass to the Field Exam. There are five different sections of the test:

Basic Knowledge of Magic

Handling a G.F.

History of the Sorceress' and the world

Combat knowledge and Remedies

Ways of Transportation"

Xu spoke up "So do you have all of that, Squall? Here's the answer sheet. You'll take group 2" she handed Squall his papers. He nodded and sat down near a computer to start checking his tests.

All the SeeD's were still in the room a few hours later, glued to their computers as they checked each test properly.

"This is taking forever…I've been checking these tests for hours…and so far no one's passed." Squall sighed and continued checking his current test. His hands hurt and he wanted so badly to get out of that room and do something else, anything else but this.

"How are you doing Squall?" Said Quistis coming up from behind him, she clutched a warm mug of coffee in her hands.

The taciturn cadet looked at his current test and resumed checking the final answers before submitting the score. Quistis leaned over Squall's shoulder and smiled broadly.

"Wow! A perfect score! That's rare. In fact I think the last ones to get such a score would be… you and Seifer two years ago."

"Seifer had already taken the test 3 times before that though…whatever…. at least I got ONE passing test"

"Keep up the good work Squall; we'll be done in no time!" Quistis said walking away to go check on the others, apparently she had already finished her test checking. Squall failed to see how she could do so much in such little time.

"Aww man! I thought I was going to pass that test for sure!" Said a young SeeD candidate outside the dorm rooms.

"It's not surprising, all you did was goof off the whole week before the exam," A girl explained to him.

Kain walked passed them trying to stay calm. On the outside he didn't talk much, and could even be described as cold, but on the inside, his emotions were surging. Reluctantly he walked through the hallways and straight to his homeroom class. He figured he would wait to see if his appetite would be ruined by the results.

Since it was a beautiful Saturday morning the only students in the classrooms were ones that wanted to use the desk panels, talk with the instructor, or, like Kain, find out their exam results.

"Good Morning Kain" his instructor greeted in her cheerful way.

Kain smiled and sat down at a desk terminal. Once he logged on he took a deep breath and entered his inbox.

"What the…" Kain couldn't believe his eyes, after just one try and one night of cramming every single note into his head, he had passed the written SeeD exam. He noticed an attachment on his E-mail. Once he opened it he realized that it was actually the commander, Xu, congratulating him on his perfect score.

"Dear student Kain,

I happily congratulate you on your excellent performance on the written SeeD exam. Please bear in mind that the Field exam is on Monday. I hope that your performance on the battlefield is as great as your knowledge.

Warm regards,

Xu, Commander and Vice Headmaster of Balamb Garden Academy."

"Short and to the point" Kain thought as he continued reading the information on the Field exam. By the time he had logged out of his screen name, he had made the decision to meet Xu face to face, if he became a SeeD.

On his way to the cafeteria, Kain could tell that a majority of the students had failed their written exam. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt a sense of pride over them all, especially since he had spent the whole week before them exam at the Quad.

By the time Kain had gotten his place in line at the cafeteria he could tell that he would be late for the school hot dogs. Of course he knew most of them went to the high rank SeeD Zell Dincht alone. That was all right, Kain wasn't a huge fan of them anyway, although he would admit they were the best around.

"Just think, in a few days I'll be taking the SeeD Exam. Then I'll finally see if I'm cut out for this…or not."


	5. Episode 4: The SeeD Exam:Part Two

"What's wrong? You look you got ran over by a chocobo!" Nida greeted Squall as he entered the room. Squall took a small glance at him and looked away not in the mood for his lighthearted sarcasm.

It was the day of the Field exam, and of course Squall had to accompany as a SeeD during the operation but he wanted more than anything to skip these duties. Lately he had not been in the mood for anything, especially anything concerning SeeD.

The routine was that all the top SeeD's chosen for the exam would meet 3 hours prior to it and discuss what was going to happen and what each member needed to look for in candidates' actions.

By the time Squall had made it to the front gate a total of nine students were assembled.

"Where are the rest?" He asked to Nida

"They're all here" Nida said rubbing the back of his neck "I think we made that test a bit harder than we thought!" Squall ignored Nida's laughing and surveyed the students.

There were two girls within the group, both of them talked to each other while the rest seemed to just fool around or stand proudly. Squall took note of the lone boy with brown hair sitting by himself, waiting for instructions.

"Is everyone here?" Xu said walking up to them with a clipboard in her hand, Headmaster Cid, who usually had a word with the students before they went off to take the exam was busy with matters Xu didn't discuss with Squall. Quistis was following her with a smile. She looked over at the students and met Squall's eye, nodded, and listened to what Xu had to say.

"Everyone please listen up, I am now going to address the Squads for today's exam"

All the students stopped their conversations to look at Xu and the other SeeD's that were to come along on the mission. The lone boy stood up and looked at Xu just like the others, only his expression changed from thought to interest.

"Squad A will be the following candidates, Coreena, Ellyn, and Edward. You are the intelligence team" The three students grouped together as they were called and headed towards the main gate where the spare airships were, the Ragnarok was being used for the SeeD mission at Esthar.

Nida followed them, knowing he was the SeeD in charge of the group.

"Squad B, The front line team, are the following candidates: Tucker, Don and Roy" The three called out immediately headed for the front gate, Xu nodded over to Squall indicating that the group was his. Squall nodded as well and proceeded following the students.

Xu looked at them and continued to call out names "Kage, Nicole, and Kain, you three are Squad C, The backup Squad. Don't worry; your job is pretty straightforward." Xu smiled at them, the other two students nodded toward each other and looked at Kain. Kain slowly followed them as Squall had to his Squad, he looked back to see a blonde SeeD talking to Xu as they entered the airship.

"This is Quistis!" Xu said gesturing to the blonde woman, the other two members of Kain's Squad seemed to give a small leap of joy. Kain knew Quistis was a well respected and loved figure in the garden, but he never got the chance to really meet her, in fact he hadn't known what she looked like until just recently. He studied her for a minute, she had a caring face but she looked a lot older than what Kain heard her real age to be.

"She is in charge of your group for this exam, you are to give her your utmost respect. Is that clear?" Kain nodded as if Xu was talking directly to him. He wanted to talk to her now that they had finally met but he knew too well that it was impossible under such circumstances. He would have to try some other time.

"Is that clear?" Xu said again eyeing the three candidates. Automatically Kain put his right hand up to his forehead, doing the garden salute he knew by heart. When Xu had left Kain followed his team into the airship and sat down next to his dark skinned comrade, Nicole. He waited until his squad leader, Kage, talked to Quistis to ask Nicole about their mission. Although Kage was a very strong and straightforward man, asking him for help would only upset him and cause a scene. Nicole seemed to have more a sense of humor and reason.

"Basically we were hired by some lunatic scientist to investigate some ruins down at Centra" She said laughing "all we have to do is help Squad B fight off the Tonberries while Squad A handles the searching"

Once the Airships started to descend from the air Kain's heart started to pound. He hated his last minute emotions. However he pressed onward to catch up to the other Squads. When he reached the area where they were assembled he could hear Nicole next to him trying to keep in a laugh.

A short man stood in front of them, clad in purple with very foreign attire. He had a long pointy beard and a mustache that curled around from under his nose. Kain also tried to suppress an expression at the tiny man. He looked around to see the other students eyeing him as well. The SeeD's however didn't pay any mind to his appearance, except for Squall who held his head with a bit of an attitude. If Kain didn't know any better, he'd say Squall knew the guy.

"Everyone listen up!" Xu said walking towards the tiny man "This is-"

"I can introduce myzelf zank you very much!" The man rudely interrupted Xu and eyed every single person in the gathering closely as if he were having second thoughts about the expedition.

"I am Doctor Odine!"

"Wait!" One student from Squad A yelled out, "You're Odine, the Odine! Maker of all those magic products?"

Odine seemed to smile on the inside before replying "Yez, Zat iz me!"

The student burst out laughing, causing the other students to start as well. Xu laid a hand on the student's shoulder "that's enough Edward, you don't want to lose points now do you?" she asked sternly and nodded over to Nida to give him a warning.

The crowd silenced and Odine cleared his throat, he turned to Xu.

"Who shall be accompanying me?"

Squad A stepped foreword.

Quistis walked in front of her squad "Squad C, please wait until Squad B has gone through the ruins, then you shall defeat any remaining Tonberries that stand in the way"

Kain's eyes wandered over to Squall again. He seemed to be looking around the place in deep thought. Kain could barely see him mouth the words "Odin…"

Kain remembered the G.F. from his class. He started to make the conclusion that Squall had been here before to obtain him.

Just then Squall turned around and looked at his squad "Follow Me" he said drawing his Gunblade. Squad B quickly took off with Squad A not far behind.

"Well there goes Doctor Insane. What exactly does he want to check out here?" Nicole muttered as they waited for the signal to go in.

"Maybe he's looking for Odin" Kain thought to himself. He knew Odin had the place heavily guarded not only with Tonberries but with his own powers as well. But if Squall really had defeated him, then this would all be a waste of time.

Suddenly a huge flare of fire rose into the sky of the ruin.

"That's our signal, let's move out!" Quistis said

The Squad took their weapons and ran up the stairs into the ruins. Kain gripped his daggers tighter as he looked around, a spot of green made an appearance out of the corner of his eye.

He started off by concentrating and blasting it with an ice spell. The small creature looked over at him with its yellow eyes glowing in wonder. Kain sliced at the Tonberry only to find that its skin was unbelievably tough. It inched closer and Kain tried his best to slice through the skin. The Tonberry pulled back its wide butcher knife, Kain was aware of the attack and jumped back on his heels, the tonberry slowly turned towards him and inched forward again. Summoning another spell Kain used protect on himself, if the Tonberry attacked him he hoped to Hyne it wouldn't be as painful as he had heard from other students at Garden. He ran back in and pummeled it with one of his daggers and a couple of magic spells. When a few scratches had surfaced Kain decided to call a G.F. He needed concentration though, he just hoped that the Tonberry was slow enough. When he had found the G.F. he wanted he opened his eyes to find the Tonberry right in front of him. He needed to stay calm, giving in to fear would make him lose his G.F.

"Hang on kid!" Nicole called from behind him. He tried to concentrate and finally shouted the words "SILENT VOICE!" He saw Nicole disappear in front of his eyes.

Water came out of nowhere and flooded the Tonberry, it winced trying not to fall victim to the current. Kain could hear the serene sound of Siren's lullaby, when he realized he was back in the battlefield he saw the Tonberry was on its knees trying to re-obtain its knife. Kain turned to Nicole who was ready to attack. Together they sliced the tonberry and it finally fell over defeated.

"Thought you might need some help, but you really didn't need it at all. Why aren't you in Squad B?" Nicole exclaimed. Kain shrugged and continued walking, being more cautious he tried not to use too many potions or cures unless extremely necessary for he knew points would be deducted.

Both cadets stopped walking when they found their leader sitting down, eyes focused on the ground.

"What're you doing?" asked Nicole

"I thought I saw something," Kage said solemnly. He got up and immediately made his way up the steps.

"I can hardly see what kind of an exam this is," muttered Squad A's leader, Edward, under his breath. Odine had led them far into the ruins and so far all the candidates had done was climb up ladders and activate passageways. Now Odine was having them examine pieces of rock that everyone believed to be ruble. Odine had not told them exactly why he was making them look at pieces of rock, and no one dared to ask because of Nida's monitoring.

"Doctor, can we go further? I don't think we're going to find anything 'ancient' in these rocks," Edward said as Odine walked around muttering words no one could figure out. Nida was secretly pleaded Odine would say yes.

The short Doctor eyed them all and ran ahead to look at the scenery.

"Very well, we shall move on" he said running off. The students sighed and reluctantly followed him. Nida looked around as they did. Inside he was frightened, he never had to go through something like this before. He looked around and caught a scream in his throat as he saw two piercing red eyes glowing right through him. It was a fierce looking gargoyle statue. Nida looked at the students in front of him; they seemed to be examining the area as well. Odine however paid no mind to it.

They stopped at a staircase leading to the roof of the building. Odine turned around.

"I congratulate all of you vor getting zis far" He said and started up the staircase, "however, zere iz one more zing I must have you all help me do"

The students from Garden looked among themselves, and proceeded slowly up the stairs before coming to the top where Odine had stopped.

"Open!" he said jumping up and down, immediately the candidates went to work deciphering codes while Odine quietly waited. Once the secret passage was opened the doctor rushed inside, everyone looked at each other with a hesitant expression on their face and slowly followed.

"AHA I KNEW EET!" the doctor cried. The students looked around a huge room, in the center was a base that looked like it once held a statue. Around the base were four slots for swords. Odine twirled his mustache as he smirked

"So, eet iz true, Odin vwas killed."


	6. Episode 5: Hidden Depths of a Secret

"Laguna, why didn't you tell Squall about what's happening in Galbadia?" Kiros asked his friend as he did paperwork in his office.

"I thought it was better he didn't know after all" Laguna said scratching his head and throwing the work off his desk "Man why do they have to make these documents so hard to figure out?"

"Obscure, as some would call it" Kiros informed his friend and laughing at the fact he hadn't changed as much as he had thought over the past nineteen years.

"Ah whatever, I'm going to go see Elle. Where is she?"

"She's in the greenhouse tending to the flowers," Kiros said speaking for Ward

"Alright! I'll go see her and be back in time for the meeting!" Laguna cried walking out happily. He stopped at the door "Oh and uh…guys, could you finish my paperwork for me?"

"Finish? You haven't even started!" Ward's eyes said scolding him

But Laguna was already down the hallway.

Just for Ellone Laguna had requested a greenhouse at the end of the Esthar Palace. It reminded her of the orphanage she had once lived at when her adoptive mother, Raine, died from childbirth. Laguna hadn't said anything to her but Ellone knew the flowers reminded him of Raine, although they were nothing in comparison to the ones she grew.

Ellone walked around tending to her flowers while humming a song she had heard Raine play on the radio many times. Her eyes looked up when she thought she heard footsteps approaching her.

Laguna was behind her, bent over and pretending to pant.

"I got here as fast as I could! That paperwork's a real killer!"

"Uncle Laguna!" Ellone giggled

They sat down at the nearest bench, admiring the beautiful color around them. Ellone looked up at Laguna, studied him for a moment, and then smiled.

"You miss her," She suddenly blurted out. She tried to cover her mouth like she had told a terrible secret, but it was true.

Laguna looked at Ellone and slowly nodded his head "Everyday, I just wish…" a hand rested on his.

"It's alright. She's not mad at you, and look how far you've come. I bet she's quite proud of you"

Laguna scratched the back of his head, but his expression showed he still seemed troubled. "yea, good 'ol Clumsy, whiny Laguna is now the president of Esthar. Yet I couldn't be there for her. I would've given this whole country just to see her face one last time…no that's not right. What am I thinking?"

Ellone frowned at him. Laguna noticed this and put a broad smile back on his face.

"I'm so glad you're back Ellone! It's been boring without you here, these guys never let me do anything fun!"

Ellone smiled back "I'm glad too, I never want to use my powers again…that way they'll never take me away" she closed her eyes, remembering the years she spent separated from Laguna and the whole reason was because of her unique ability to take people back into the past.

"I'm sorry" Laguna said softly

"For what?"

"For not protecting you, none of that would've happened if I had kept those soldiers away from you"

Ellone shook her head "Don't blame yourself" she told him.

A small silence followed them.

"Are you going to tell Squall about Galbadia?"

"He doesn't need to know. I think I can handle this myself"

"Are you sure?"

"No…"

"So eet iz true. Odin vwas killed," Doctor Odine said staring at a circle of empty sword slots. The candidates of Squad A looked around the room. It was huge and relatively clean compared to the rest of the ruins.

Coreena spoke up "Odin? You mean that ancient G.F. we learned about in class?"

"I thought he would join your party once you defeated him" Ellyn wondered while walking forward to get a better view of the room.

"How do you know he died?" Said Edward

Odine glanced back at them, ignoring their comments. He walked to the other side of the room and told everyone, including Nida, "SEARCH!"

Squall put his gunblade onto the dusty earth. He then began to reminisce the past, he had acquired Odin after many puzzles and battles, only to lose him at the hands of Seifer on the Lunatic Pandora. After that he had obtained Gilgamesh, a powerful ally that helped defeat Seifer, but was new to the job of "G.F." so his attacks weren't effective at times.

Squad B, the squad he was in charge of, was in a small clearing in the ruins taking a break from the fighting. He wondered what Odine was possibly after in the ruins, was he here for Odin? And if so, what would he do once he found out Odin was killed?

"Hey what's that?" a student from the squad asked.

"What's what?" all three boys were looking off in a particular direction

"I don't see anything," one of them said

Squall grabbed his gunblade and got up as curiosity overtook him. He walked towards the small group until suddenly his hand tightened on the handle of his blade.

"Get away from there!" he yelled, the students looked at him confused. Squall had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and his head felt unbelievably light all of a sudden.

The boys tried to move but all of them stopped to grab their heads.

"WATCH OUT!" Squall yelled running over to them. A huge burst of fire magic was aiming for them and blue light was shooting out of everywhere as more magic was summoned from its unknown host. Squall managed to dive and save his squad from certain danger, but an unidentified force suddenly grabbed his mind.

"DIE…" it whispered violently into his mind "DIE…ALL SeeD MUST…DIE"

Squall tried hard to get control of his mind again but the floor behind him was shaking excessively. The earth started to crack. An earthquake spell!

Squall yelled at the tops of his lungs to anyone that could respond "GET HELP NOW!"

He looked up at the students. Two had run off from his call to get help while one was passed out cold on the floor, stricken by a lightening spell. Squall crawled closer to him and dragged him away as fast as he could while the vibration increased. Words still rang in his mind.

"Squall!" a low female voice rang out

Squall struggled to look over at Quistis as she and her squad, including the two from his, came over.

"Q-Quistis! Use Blue Magic, summon Mighty Guard!"

There was no time to waste. Everyone was suddenly floating as the ground crumbled below. Squall, who was able to think more clearly, passed the unconscious student to Quistis.

"You're bleeding," she said worriedly

"Don't worry about it. We have to find the others" Squall said, now aware of how many cuts were on his body from the earthquake. Quistis nodded her head and looked at the Squad B students.

"Go find Xu!" she ordered. Quistis then turned towards her group.

"See if the others are alright" 

"We need to get out of here!" Edward cried. The clean tiles of Odin's room were being hit with rubble from the ceiling. The girls shielded themselves from it and turned to Nida. He looked at Odine who was still trying to find whatever he was looking for.

"Let's go!" Nida said running over to him

"Not yet!" Odine yelled back

"C'mon what're you trying to do? Get us all killed?" He picked up the small doctor and held him tight as he made a rush for the door.

"LET ME GO I AM NOT DONE YET!"

"You're kidding!"

Squad A was following closely behind Nida, they looked below to see many fire spells under them. Coreena tried to run faster but just then the staircase started cracking from another earthquake. She fell down to her knees after stepping on a crumbling step, she tried to get up but the whole thing collapsed from under her. She shrieked as her hands flailed around to catch onto anything, they caught Edward's hand.

"Don't let go!" she yelled with tears forming in her eyes, her legs dangled helplessly. She seemed so sure she would fall.

"I won't!" said Edward, he turned to Ellyn "Get out of here, we'll be fine!"

Ellyn's feet moved hesitantly, she didn't want to leave them behind. She gasped and stepped forward as she saw Edwards step start to break. Fortunately it seemed Edward was finally finding his strength pulled Coreena up. But before she could find her footing her hand slipped through Edward's. She let out a shrilling cry as she fell to the depths below.

"Edward!" Ellyn cried. He stood on his step staring at where Coreena had been just seconds ago, he seemed petrified. The step he was on finally crumbled under his deadweight. Ellyn backed away slowly as her leader fell to his death like Coreena before him.

Back at the base of the ruins everyone was running fro their lives. "Head for the airships, hurry!" Xu yelled over the terrified screams and magic.

Kain was still looking for Squad A when Nida, carrying a very angry looking Odine, whizzed past him. Not too far behind him was a small girl. Kain ran up to her and noticed she was slightly shaking.

"Where's the rest of the Squad?" he asked

"Gone…" she said. Kain could barely hear her voice over the commotion.

He and the girl made a run for the airship. The ground started to shake again, another earthquake was hitting. Remains of the nearby architecture tumbled down. Kain looked behind him when he heard a loud scream of pain. The girl was wedged under the ruble trying to get free. Kain ran back and started moving bits and pieces as fast as he could.

"Help Me," she whispered, gasping for air as her lungs caved in from the weight. Kain started to dig harder but stopped when a hand pushed him aside. Nida began digging harder and faster in an effort to free her. In the digging, Ellyn was able to crawl out. Her face told the two that she was in a lot of pain. Kain caught a glimpse of her legs, they looked heavily damaged.

"This girl is in my Squad, I'll take care of her" Nida said lifting her into his arms and running off, Kain wasted no time following him.

_Suddenly a bright light flashed through Kain's eyes, shortly after he started to deal with a pounding headache. He gripped his head tightly, fighting hard to keep himself conscious. Time became slow as he descended onto the ground, pictures were flooding into his mind like mad and his heart was pounding. He could feel heat on his back and it seemed to be getting more intense but there was nothing he could do through the pain in his head. it was like a bomb was going off inside his head, he was on fire! Then he felt a pair of strong hands grip him around the waist, carrying him, he looked up to see Xu in the airship and the sound of Squall's necklace and belts shaking beside him._


	7. Episode 6: Palace Raid!

Squall was running as fast as he could to find any remaining students that were still in the ruins. Ahead he could see the brown haired boy and a girl running, "hopefully that's the last of them"

Squall had to hurry, the magic was getting more intense and his shell magic was wearing off. He felt the vibrations of another earthquake spell and he instinctively tumbled to avoid the falling pieces of rock, he got up once it passed but ducked at a magic spell that headed his way. He looked ahead to see Nida throw Odine inside the airship and speed toward newly fallen ruble where the boy was desperately trying to save the girl he was running with. Squall broke into a run again; if he got there faster he could help. But soon the girl was out from under the ruble. Nida grabbed her and ran for the airship, the boy right on his heels.

Squall was almost there when a ringing came to his head. He fell down screaming in pain. Sweat started to drip down his face not only from a fear that had crawled up his spine, but the fact that the ruins seemed to finally give in to the intense magic and had started to implode. Squall stumbled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his head, and ran off. He saw the brown haired boy up ahead, on the ground in the same manner Squall had been just moments before. Squall scooped the boy up up, setting his sights on the airship that was starting to take off.

Squall never thought he could run so fast, especially with extra luggage, but before he knew it he had leaped into the airship with both he and Kain banging their bodies hard on the cold metal ground.

"Are you alright?" Squall could hear voices call to him. He took a deep breath and replied with a nod, but he wouldn't look up. Sweat dripped down his face.

Quistis knelt down and placed her hand on his forehead.

"You're burning up!"

"Yea, well look what he just dodged!" Nida exclaimed from behind the cockpit. Everyone turned to look at his view, except Squall who was still on floor. The entire ruins were ablaze with a fierce light, if Squall were only a few seconds slower two morel ives would have been lost.

"So that's four" Xu said slowly, a grim look on her face.

"Four?" said Squall slowly rising to his feet with difficulty, he was abnormally lightheaded.

Xu picked up Kain, who had become completely unconscious, and laid him on a seat in the other room.

Her expression seemed to have become more gruesome after she came back out.

"Only four made it out alive"

"Uncle Laguna!" Ellone said happily as she walked into his office. Laguna was sound asleep at his desk with his head resting on what looked like very important documents.

Ellone put her hands on her hips and sighed. She wondered why Kiros and Ward weren't keeping an eye on the president.

"Sir!" a Palace Guard said breaking into the room, not only scaring Ellone out of her mind but Laguna out of his seat.

The President got up with a dazed look on his face "What is it?" he asked the soldier, completely confused.

"There is a visitor here for you, he requests to see you personally. Shall I let him in?"

"Uh…Yes!" Laguna said, climbing onto two legs.

"Could that be Squall?" Ellone suggested.

"Maybe" Laguna said rubbing the back of his head "But I could've sworn he was on another SeeD mission today"

The president shrugged it off and ruffled Ellone's hair before saying "I'll be back in a minute, wait for me here, ok?"

Ellone nodded and smiled.

Laguna smiled back and left. He turned around when he was halfway down the hallway, someone had called his name.

"Be careful" his friend Kiros said with Ward not too far behind, Laguna gave him a puzzled look.

"The visitor looks a bit suspicious to me" he said trying to ease his friend's curiosity "Follow me"

He led Laguna to the front gate where a young man, about Squall's age, stood waiting for the president. He was dressed in a black uniform that looked similar to the Garden's attire. His hair was just as dark and swayed in front of his cold gray eyes. The man had broad shoulders and his face was emotionless.

"Hello," Laguna greeted with a smile "what brings you here?"

"We need to talk" the young man demanded, "Can we go somewhere… private?" he eyed Kiros and Ward from behind the Esthar president.

"Sure!" The president said still smiling to hide his doubts.

Laguna led the man, and his two friends, down to a spare room in the palace.

"Alrighty then, what is it you want to talk about?" said Laguna still cheery.

"We've come for her, please hand her over and no one will be harmed"

Laguna's face hardened, he could feel Kiros and Ward tense up behind him.

"Who?" said Laguna trying to sound confused.

"Don't lie President," the man said calmly but sternly.

"I'm sorry but I can't help you there, 'she' could mean anyone, Anna…uh.. Kimberly…Justin…a?" Laguna tried his best to lie, but he was awful with girl names.

"Don't say we didn't warn you," the man said taking out a pistol and aiming towards a glass window to outside.

A noise shattered the window, glass flew everywhere in the room. It was then that Laguna realized the man had not come alone, but with an entire army of kids dressed exactly like him.

They invaded swiftly, it wasn't long before the sound of shattered glass and screams were heard from other parts of the palace.

Laguna's thoughts turned to Ellone, he had left her alone in his office, and he knew it wouldn't be long before the black clad teens would reach her. He unconsciously moved to go find her but the barrel of the young man's gun collided with his temple.

"Step aside," the young man said. Laguna backed off and the man proceeded down the hallway.

"Laguna what are you doing!" Kiros said looking at Ward's expression.

"I've got a plan guys! Let's hope this works" they all nodded and ran after the man.

"No let me go, please!" Ellone said trying to keep her sash wrapped around her arms. The teens had already gotten inside Laguna's office and were shoving Ellone out the door.

One of them let go of her arms when another crash from outside startled him. Ellone took the pause to run out of the room.

"Uncle Laguna! Uncle Laguna!" she cried looking left and right for him. She saw more people in black coming from the other direction. Ellone took countless turns to find her way out of the palace, which had now become a deadly maze. Finally she came to a halt at an empty intersection to catch her breath.

It was a short break however as more uniformed kids had found her and were making their way towards her from all directions. She backed away, she knew more teens were waiting for her even if she got out of there. She was at a loss of what to do. Suddenly a black rock fell down in front of her face. It seemed familiar to her. She shielded herself as it blew up on the ground, injuring a good amount of the people in front of her. The ones that were not affected still came after her.

"DESPERADOOOO!" cried a voice. Laguna dropped down from the ceiling, his old but trusty machine gun clenched tightly in his hand. He swung around shooting like he was in an old western and jumped down in front of Ellone. Wincing on impact, instantly a hand went to his leg.

He turned to Ellone, "Get outta here!"

"Uncle Laguna…"

"Let's go"

Ellone turned around to see Kiros and Ward. She nodded and followed them down the now empty hallway, but more teenagers waited for them at the end. Ellone's bodyguards stepped in front of her. Kiros loosened his body and his robe went flying as the two hand blades he was hiding went to action, Ward took off his robe as well. Both had their old attire on.

Kiros and Ward were doing a pretty good job at fending off the intruders. There were now only two of them standing. They took off in a blink of an eye and dodged every one of Kiros's attack. Ward stood back to protect Ellone, his harpoon was too slow to catch up to the kids.

Both of the black clad kids stood with sinister looks on their faces, together they summoned magic out of their hands. Ward, caught off guard, was instantly on the ground. Kiros was trying his best to keep in the fight but his world was spinning while he had the sudden urge to sleep. They had been doubled with confuse and sleep magic.

Both of Ellone's protectors were on the ground, she stood frozen before the attackers.

As they came near her she closed her eyes, her face became serene but seemed to be concentrating. The female in front of her began to hold her head as the male next to her fell to the floor.

Ellone opened her tear filled eyes. She promised she would never use her powers again. But she also promised she wouldn't get kidnapped, and thanks to Squall she could send anyone she just met into another's mind.

Her moment of relief was short however, a strong hand gripped her from behind and she met with the gaze of bitter gray eyes.

"You can't run forever," he told her

Ellone hesitated, but before she knew it a sharp pain came to her stomach and her world went dark.

"I just can't believe it, only four?" Doctor Kadowaki said to Quistis and Squall in Balamb Garden's infirmary.

Quistis nodded "Xu's taking it really hard" she said looking into one of the occupied rooms.

"I don't blame her!" Kadowaki exclaimed.

Quistis sighed "this is horrible…" she quoted Xu on the airship "five candidates dead, and the other four in critical condition! This is the worst field exam in the history of Garden! The headmaster will have me for sure!"

Squall was actually quite glad that the written exam was harder, it had put less lives at stake. He himself had a difficult time escaping, a lot worse than on his exam that was for sure.

"Are you going to file charges against this Odine character?" the doctor asked, hands on her hips.

Quistis shook her head "It wasn't his fault, he never could have predicted anything like that" she sighed "One in critical condition from tremendous magic, once badly burnt and bruised, one with a probability of never walking again, and…."

Kadowaki spoke up "Yes that boy, Kain, he's been sleeping for quite a while, are you sure he's alright?"

"He's fine" Said Squall speaking for practically the first time since they got back from the ruins "He's just unconscious"

Quistis thought for a second before watching Kadowaki leave the infirmary for supplies. The blonde decided to find out what was really on Squall's mind.

"Back there, at the ruins, did you…. hear anything in your head?" she asked

Squall nodded "Yea, it said SeeD must die…"

"Could it be Ultimecia? Really, but I thought we had defeated her"

"I saw her die" Squall said solemnly "I saw her pass her power to Matron. Before I got on the airship I heard…ringing"

"The dream world?"

"Felt like it, but it was…different" Squall said looking at the ground in deep thought.

"What in the world's going on here?" Quistis sighed, her expression perked up "Oh and I forgot to tell you, you're not going to the meeting tonight. Laguna called, he needs to talk to you. He says it's very urgent"


	8. Episode 7: Sorceress of Galbadia

Xu and Nida sat down at the conference table. Nida watched Xu as she slumped down into her chair. She wasn't looking foreword to seeing the Headmaster; she felt she had failed him. Nida wanted to help comfort her but couldn't think of anything to say or do. He could hear footsteps from down the hall. Nida cleared his throat; Xu immediately put her head up and regained her posture, giving her a strong unworried look.

Quistis entered the room with a small smile and took her seat across from Nida and waited patiently for the headmaster.

"Where's Squall?" Nida asked, knowing the Garden leader should be there.

"In Esthar, he got a call from the President" Quistis informed him

"About Odine?" Nida whispered before noticing Xu give a flinch. At first he feared it was something he said but soon he heard another pair of footsteps grow louder as the headmaster came close to the room.

Quistis stood up and everyone looked at the door, by the time Headmaster Cid entered the room all three SeeD's were standing straight giving him the garden salute. The headmaster smiled and nodded to them.

"You may sit," he said casually as he got to his chair at the head of the table. When everyone was seated Cid went right into business

"From the reports I read, only four survived the incident."

Xu hung her head low. Cid didn't seem to notice and continued

"Since the four left are injured there may not be any new SeeD's this year"

Quistis cleared her throat "We have been debating on whether or not to make the remaining four SeeD's if they recover" she motioned towards Xu and Nida.

"We got together and put in the points of all the students before the attack," Nida said as Xu took out a piece of paper with the nine students, their pictures, stats, and points.

"As you can see, the cadets with the most points were killed except for Roy from Squad B, as of now he is in the infirmary with a 98 chance of full recovery"

Cid nodded "what about the second highest points in the Squads?"

Nida stepped forward "Ellyn from Squad A's legs were injured while escaping, there is a probability of 15 that she will walk normally again. Squad B's Tucker was shocked by a powerful thundaga spell and has been on a machine since arriving back at Garden. Doctor Kadowaki is giving him special treatments to stop the flinching in his muscles and breathing problems, if all goes well he will live with a few minor muscle problems, including his heart. Finally Squad C's Kain has been unconscious since the incident itself. His breathing is fine and has a few minor scratches but we don't know when he'll wake up, there's no way he would just take a nap in the middle of a race for his life" he explained

"So according to your calculations we'll only have two fit for SeeD once they recover" Cid said solemnly

Nida stuttered for a minute "T-That's correct"

"Now, has anyone made contact with Odine since his departure at Esthar?"

"He was quiet the whole way there, he hasn't said anything about paying for repairs or lives" Quistis said "but Squall is going to Esthar, I believe he'll sort things out"

"Good, keep everything on hold until we hear from Squall. The only issue left as of now is to hold a memorial for the cadets"

Xu immediately stood up "I'll do it headmaster, I'll inform their parents and set up the memorial right away" she ignored the stares from Nida and Quistis, her eyes were focused on Cid. After an awkward silence the headmaster agreed.

Squall couldn't believe his eyes. A few days ago the Palace of Esthar was a beautiful piece of work gleaming in the middle of the twilight that hung over Esthar. But now the place was in shambles. Broken glass was everywhere, the guards had managed to clean most of the mess up, but there was no doubt that there was an attack on Esthar. Squall wondered whether the attacker was monster, or man.

Slowly Squall walked up to Laguna's office, he looked around to see signs of a struggle, an idea of what had happened popped into his mind.

"Come in" Laguna said looking out the window behind his desk. Squall walked in and looked back at the automatic door expecting it to shut, it stopped midway and sizzled, motionless. He looked over at Laguna who seemed to move a bit but did not pay much attention to the door. Squall decided to leave it alone and walked towards the president.

"What happened here?" he asked

Laguna sighed, "She's gone"

"Gone?" Squall exclaimed. He knew the President meant Ellone.

"The palace was raided by some kids in uniform. I know it wasn't your kind, but they were a smart and lively bunch."

Squall looked at the ground taking in what he just heard, he couldn't think of any other organization that would do such a thing. Laguna turned around and looked at Squall with an expression that made him look so much older than he was.

"Do you know who the current ruler of Galbadia is?" he asked

Squall looked at him in interest "I thought they were still looking for one"

Laguna scratched the back of his head "Yea, about that…" Squall looked away from the president and held his head in thought "so he did want to tell me something important after all."

"OK. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, is that what you wanted to hear? Anyways so Galbadia's been under a frantic search for a new ruler after Ultimecia was defeated. Well they finally found one, her name's Sorceress Sinistra"

"Sinistra… another sorceress?"

"All the Galbadians look to her as a hero. She's far from it though, her intentions are nothing good and she's sent multiple requests here asking for Odine and our technology, I bet those kids that invaded this place were under her command"

"What about Ellone?" Squall asked knowing they had to get her back before anything else.

Laguna scratched the back of his head in deep thought, "don't worry about her, I'll take care of that"

Squall nodded knowing Laguna was determined to get Ellone back. But now there were two sorceresses he knew about in the world that would greatly affect his life, and the outcome: Sorceress Sinistra and Sorceress Rinoa.

"Now uh…Odine sent a request to see you about an hour ago, I don't think you should keep him waiting any longer" Laguna laughed sheepishly. Squall shook his head at the president and left.

Kain's breathing was hectic. He couldn't shake the images out of his head. A little girl and a little boy were crying and running without a destination. Fire and screams filled the air and there was nothing they could do about it, nothing.

His eyes shot open and he looked around the room. Quistis, Xu, Nida, and Doctor Kadowaki were looming over him with concerned looks. Slowly Kain realized he was in the infirmary of Balamb Garden.

"W-what…" he tried to say, his mouth was incredibly dry and his head felt light. He held it as blood rushed into it.

Xu shook her head and smiled "It's ok, get some more rest"

Kain stared at her for a minute trying to ignore the heat rushing into his cheeks. Everyone seemed to smile knowing he was all right. Kadowaki put a hand on his shoulder.

"You've had a long day, take this and lay back down" she handed him a small blue bottle of liquid. Kain took it and looked at it, reluctant to drink it.

The SeeD's left the room with less weight on their shoulders. Nida was the first to talk,

"Well that's one less person to worry about right?" he looked at Xu.

She nodded "he's alright, the best condition out of all four"

"You can thank Squall for that" Quistis said next to her

"…Yes…" she said apparently still bothered by him being in Esthar. She turned to Kadowaki "How are the others fairing?"

"The others seem to be recovering well enough, except for the girl. Her legs will have to be amputated, there's no other choice."

Xu lowered her head "so that's about two that made it out ok…only two"

"Don't take it all out on yourself" the doctor said reassuringly

Xu smiled and said nothing as she went out the door. Kadowaki sighed in defeat "That girl tries too hard, take care of her ok?" she said turning to Quistis and Nida who saluted her at the doctor.


	9. Episode 8: Odine

Squall was escorted to Odine's Laboratory on the other side of Esthar. The lab was nothing compared to Esthar's Palace although Odine would never let anyone into the back where many research experiments were being held. Squall walked to the computer room where he was told Odine would be waiting. When he walked in there however, the doctor was no where to be found.

"I knew he wouldn't be here," Squall thought ready to turn back and leave. Just then the door opened and in popped the little doctor with a frown on his face.

"Have a zeat! We have much to talk about!" he snapped, Squall stared at him before finding a chair to sit on.

"Has Garden fined you for the incident?" Squall asked trying to figure out the reason for the doctor's mood

"NO NO NO!" he yelled, "that iz not vhat I am concerned about!"

Squall looked at the doctor with a blank expression, he was sure he didn't want to hear the doctor's real reason.

"My research waz incomplete!" Odine yelled hopping up and down "and the place waz destroyed! How do you expect me to care about a fine when I have a Hypotheziz to answer?"

"What hypothesis?"

Odine stared Squall down before walking over to the computer and pointing to a button out of his reach.

"PUSH!" he ordered

Squall frowned, walked over to the panel and pressed the button that the tiny doctor could not reach. A screen of names popped up, Squall recognized a few of them as the names of GF's.

"Theze are ancient GF's said to only exist in the bodies of humanz!" Odine said proudly. Squall continued to look at the names as they appeared, there were millions of them, and they seemed to keep going. Squall's eyes widened as he saw a familiar name enter the data bank.

"Griever?"

"Yez you know of eet?" Odine asked looking at the list grow.

Squall motioned to his Griever necklace and nodded.

"Oh I zee now, ziz GF is sacred to you"

"I wouldn't call it that" Squall thought to himself.

"I have formed a hypotheziz stating that all zese GF's existed long ago. When Sorceress Hyne created mankind she put a GF in each human to give it a zoul, perzonality, and life. I like to call zese GF's zat dwell inzide us INNER GF'S!"

"What does that have to do with the expedition at the Centra ruins?" Squall asked

Odine curled his mustache looking at Squall ignorantly "Eet iz said zat Hyne lived in Centra vwen she created ze first human, I believe zat ze ruins and Odin's dizappearance would be ze key I needed"

"Odin was killed" Squall said, "He was cut in half by Seifer"

"Interesting indeed! Zis Zeifer you speak of, a human strong enough to reverze ze effect of an Ancient GF, incredible!"

"Ancient G.F…"

"Why do you zink he never joined your party?" Odine said in a know-it-all matter "coming and going az he pleazez, and guarding ze ruinz with his power, didn't you zink he waz hiding zomzing?"

Squall thought about the doctor's words for a minute. Odine looked at him, concocting a smile on his lips.

"I have a theory!" the doctor continued "Zat an Inner G.F. has ze power to make ze human host more powerful! But eet must be unleashed like a regular G.F."

"How?" Squall was starting to get confused, but he was very intrigued.

"Zat iz a good question, a much harder prozess than a normal GF, zat is why I have yet to figure out the extraction part" Odine rubbed his chin and walked over to the door.

"Turn ze computer off and LEAVE!" he said leaving the lab and a bewildered Squall.

Squall looked over the names again, and he could see a possibility of Odine's hypothesis being true. There were well over a million GF's in the bank and more were being processed. Had the Ancient GF's been residents of the planet before Hyne created man? And if so why did she imprison all the GF's into humans? The taciturn hero decided to leave all the questions up for Odine to answer. He turned off the computer and made his way out of the lab where the escort was waiting for him.

He was ready to go back to Garden by the time the escort reached the Palace of Esthar. The moon was clearly visible in the night's sky and for once didn't look so menacing over the city as it had when the Lunar Cry took place. But the rest of the sky was dark and the city itself was illuminated with brilliant light, Squall took admiration of it as he walked to Laguna's office.

"All set?" Laguna asked with a wide smile

"What's with the change of attitude all of a sudden?" Squall asked himself nodding to the president.

"Oh and by the way I just finished talking to your headmaster, don't worry we'll pay for all the fines for the expedition and Odine's agreed to work on one of the patients!"

"What do you mean?"

Laguna scratched the back of his head hating to be the bearer of bad news

"One of the kids from the incident is going to have her legs cut off"

"You mean amputated" the brown haired man said correcting Laguna's grammar

"Right! So Odine's agreed to work on her, he's really eager to try mechanical limbs!"

Squall put a hand on his waist. Laguna noticed this.

"The escort's waiting for you outside. He'll take you to a hotel"

"Hotel?" Squall asked instantly

"Well, it would save me some arguments if you and Odine left tomorrow morning, you don't mind staying here do you?"

Squall sighed and decided to agree, he walked to the escort waiting for him and got in the car. He looked around the city, its beauty was so magnificent he almost forgot about the attacks that had happened not so long ago. His mind drifted to Rinoa and how he had come here the first time trying to heal her. He decided not to dwell on it and shot his attention to Ellone. Kidnapped again, and this time Laguna and the whole palace was there to prevent it and it still didn't work. Whoever these new kids were, they were properly trained.

Ellone slowly opened her eyes. She tried to move but her wrists and ankles were in chains. Her vision was hazy and it took her a while to realize what had happened before her blackout.

"Uncle Laguna?" she whispered to no one in particular.

"He's not here."

Ellone jumped at a voice she was not expecting, she didn't know who it was but it sounded stern and cold. Ellone felt her heart start to pound when she realized that the room was full of the people that invaded the palace and took her away from Laguna. In front of her was the man that had knocked her out, accompanied by a haughty looking girl with dark red hair.

The man walked closer but Ellone was ready. Around her was an echoing of moans and grunts as all the personnel fell to the floor, except for the man in front of her. He proceeded to come closer and Ellone frantically tried to get free. She didn't want him anywhere near her.

Suddenly her head felt dizzy and a ringing sound rang in her mind. She saw herself as a young girl, about 2 or so. She saw Uncle Laguna and Raine at the bar in Winhill. They were sad, sad for her. Another image came of Raine holding her hand out for Ellone to take. Her smile was serene and caring. Ellone remembered that smile well.

She shook her head trying to get the sensation to go away and she became aware of the bruise that had appeared on her stomach from where the man had struck her. She looked up with wide eyes, not sure of what had just happened.

The man looked at her calmly while his comrades struggled to pick themselves up from the floor. "I'd be more careful if I were you, this room is very prone to brain waves like yours. The slightest attempt and a drop of fear could mean catastrophe for everyone in here, including you"

"Then…why weren't you affected by it at all?" Ellone managed to gasp through the pain.

The man stared at her with his cold eyes and walked away, soon the whole room became empty. Ellone was left in darkness.


	10. Episode 9: After Math

Kain was awaked to the sound of voices. He slowly got out of bed and peaked out into the infirmary, one of the rooms were crowded with people. He recognized Xu and Squall among the group and the amount of high tech equipment around the room. He walked over to Xu in growing curiosity.

"What's going on?"

Squall glanced at him and turned back around. Xu shook her head smiling and looked at Kain.

"Ellyn's getting surgery on her legs" before Kain had time to think what was so special about it Xu answered for him "her legs had to be amputated but Odine's agreed to give her metal limbs, it's the first surgery ever done. Everyone's so excited" her hair bobbed up and down as she said the word. She seemed very happy and continued looking at the crowded room. Kain doubted she could really see anything. But many voices could be heard from inside the room.

"Keep ze body still!"

"Isn't she asleep?"

"Yez but ze zurgery cauzes her body to twitch, you must keep her down!"

"I see you're finally well" the brown haired boy looked around for the friendly voice addressed to him. It was Dr. Kadowaki, perhaps the only one in the room that noticed his condition. He nodded shyly.

"That's great! You'll be the first one out today. Hopefully the others will follow shortly" She smiled at him and Kain looked around, feeling odd. The surgery had attracted a lot of students and instructors, but had anyone realized he was in the incident too?

He was certain the news had spread quickly but it was almost impossible to believe that the incident had only happened yesterday. Of course nothing had really happened to him, but he felt he would never forget the feeling of being there and the students that had been lost.

He looked at Kadowaki hesitantly motioning towards the door,

"Just take your clothes and drop by later for the rest." She told him.

Kain had already forgotten what day it was, there were obviously no classes since everyone was up and about. It seemed that wherever he went he could hear rumors and whispers of yesterday.

He sighed and headed to his dorm room, exhausted he laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Just yesterday he was fighting Tonberries to get into SeeD, now it didn't matter to him at all whether he made it or not. He was the only one to survive without a scratch.

Kain turned on his side contemplating all the events. A realization came to him, he had survived the test without any big problem on his part, did that mean he was cut out for Balamb garden, the one place he lived at for as long as he could remember?

He started thinking about the nightmares he had when he woke up in the infirmary. They seemed familiar to him, like he had seen them played in a movie before, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Eventually, Kain thought himself to sleep. He woke up to the sound of a door shutting. Slowly he got up and looked outside his room, it was his roommate, and he looked upset. He glanced at Kain and his expression changed.

"You're back…" he said astonished

Kain nodded "Yea…" he said quietly, he and his roommate didn't talk much. Kain was far too shy and quiet to make conversation while his roommate was hardly ever around to talk to.

"So tell me…H-how was it?" his tone seemed full of curiosity "What happened?"

Kain shrugged "you don't want to know"

"Yea I do!" his roommate said stomping his foot "Nicole, she was there too wasn't she?"

Kain nodded his head

"So what happened? Is she alive? I hear there was only one girl that survived"

Kain realized he didn't know who else had survived instead of himself. He just knew three others were alive, but he knew the girl that survived was the one that was crushed under the concrete at the ruins. It made perfect sense, she was getting mechanical limbs.

"No…" he finally said "I don't think she made it out on time"

His roommate didn't say a word but instead went over to his room and started opening his drawers.

"What are you doing?" Kain asked

"I'm getting out of here, everyone's freaking out and going home. They don't want to be SeeD's anymore if they're just going to end up being killed"

Kain looked at him in shock, he realized that the past few years were chaotic for anyone trying to become a SeeD, maybe now was the final straw for most students.

"Shouldn't Garden Leader Squall try to talk to us about it?" he asked trying to convince his roommate to stay.

"I don't know" his roommate said swinging a duffle bag over his shoulder, "but I'm not staying long enough to find out,"

In about ten more minutes he had packed and was ready to leave, he looked over his shoulder at Kain "Good luck man" he said and closed the door behind him. Kain was sure he'd never see him again.

"YO SQUALL!"

Squall looked over his shoulder on his way to the SeeD conference room. Zell was running after him with Rinoa on his heels. Squall diverted his eyes from her. They hadn't seen each other for a few good days.

"Squall are you alright?" Rinoa said with apparent concern in her voice

"I'm fine," he said as they reached him

"I'm glad" Rinoa said sighing with relief "You really worried me Squall. I haven't seen you in almost a week, and to find out you could have been killed yesterday…I was scared…. scared of not seeing you again" she looked at him with hurt in her eyes.

"Please don't look at me like that…I didn't mean to make you worry"

"I'm sorry," said Squall

"So man, what happened yesterday?

"I don't know…"Squall said thinking about when the first attack happened "everything happened too fast. But…" he looked at Rinoa, could he tell her there was another sorceress in control of Galbadia? "Follow Me," he said

Zell and Rinoa followed him obediently into the room where Xu, Quistis, and Nida were waiting. Zell took a seat across from Quistis while Rinoa sat next to him, Squall stood at the end of the conference table. Everyone looked at him expectantly.

"So Squall, what did you hear from Laguna?" Quistis asked, Squall sighed and started his report.


	11. Episode 10: Worry

"Raided Huh?" Nida said from his chair, Squall had just finished telling everyone in the room about the strange organization that raided the Palace of Esthar and kidnapped Ellone.

"I've never heard of an organization like that," Quistis said in thought.

"They might have kept quiet about their existence" Xu put in.

Squall shook his head "there's more" He looked at Rinoa, who gave him an assuring look, and continued.

"Laguna told me about what's really going on in Galbadia, and it doesn't look very good. They've found a new leader. It's a sorceress by the name of Sinistra, she's after more land and Odine. She wants to set up an alliance with Esthar because of their technology, Laguna's trying to nicely decline but they won't have it"

Zell spun around in his chair upset "Another sorceress to deal with? Man I thought Ultimecia was the last of 'em!"

"Apparently not" Squall said

"Another sorceress?" said Rinoa "she's not like Edea, or me, is she?"

Squall shook his head "I doubt it"

Xu cleared her throat, "Squall, I'm worried. Many of the students are getting out of Garden. They don't want to become SeeD's anymore, they're afraid."

"But the SeeD's are stickin' around, right?" Zell asked now paying attention to the problem at hand.

Xu was going to answer but Nida spoke up for her "Most of the SeeD's are staying, they don't care if they have to fight or not. Although there were a few exceptions"

"Wussies…" Zell muttered under his breath "Well I'm stayin', I don't care if I have to fight either!" everyone stared at him before turning to Quistis as she spoke up.

"Squall you have to talk to them, we've set up for you to make a speech in about an hour, tell them what's going on and what happened"

"Why does everyone think I know exactly what happened?"

"Just try your best to explain Squall" Quistis said smiling at him

Xu Stood up "Right, so assemble back here in about forty-five minutes" everyone agreed. Xu and Nida left the room while the others stayed behind.

"Well…" Squall started until he thought he heard static in the room. Everyone looked around for where it was coming from. Squall figured out where the source was and walked over to a small computer in the far corner of the room.

"Squall?…..are you there?…..Squall?"

"Selphie?" Zell asked perplexed

"Zell? Is that you? HI!" It was her. The energetic woman that helped Squall and the others defeat Ultimecia and took off shortly after with Irvine to rebuild Trabia Garden, the school she grew up in.

"Selphie, what's wrong?" Squall asked trying hard to listen through the immense static that filled the transmission. Even though Esthar had stopped their camouflage tiles the distance was too far for a clear reception.

"Squall is everyone alright? We heard about the accident at Centra!"

"Whoa, how'd you guys find out so fast?" Zell exclaimed

A small giggle came in from the machine and a new voice came one "Yo Zell, How's it goin?" Zell's face filled with rage, it was Irvine.

"Me 'n Selphie got a message by Chocobo just now! Quisty sent it to us, Squall we're coming back for the team!"

Squall turned to Quistis who folded her arms and simply replied "I thought it would be nice to have them back with us, there are bigger problems at hand now"

Rinoa frowned "But What about Trabia?" she asked the machine

"Don't worry Rinoa! Trabia will be fine without us. You guys need us now!" said Selphie happily.

"Squall, you can go pick them up on the Ragnarok can't you? But…I guess that means you'll be missing your speech, won't you?" Quistis asked eyeing him

Squall looked at her strangely, knowing she had everything designed from the moment she sent the letter.

"What are you planning?"

He shrugged and turned away "Whatever…"

"Geez not this again" said Zell leaning on one foot and crossing his arms. "I haven't seen Selphie in forever! And …to tell the truth I kind of want her to take her place back on the Ragnarok" he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment for admitting he hated piloting the spaceship.

"Glad to hear" Quistis said sounding relieved

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?" Zell shot back pumping his fist in anger

Rinoa and Quistis ended up laughing while Squall leaned his head into his hand

Quistis noticed this and spoke up "Squall you need to get ready to go soon,"

"Squall, are you alright?" Rinoa asked concerned, Squall was silent and looked fear stricken.

He slowly looked at Rinoa, trying to hide his expression. "Y-Yea, I'm fine" he stumbled out of the room still clutching his head. Everyone exchanged worried expressions.

Squall walked outside of the room panting with sweat, a horrible ringing in his ears. He thought of Ellone but her ringing wasn't as intense. He fell to the floor in a squat, holding onto the wall. It felt like the feeling he had yesterday at the mission. Fear ran up his spine and horrid false images showed. He took deep breaths until finally the feeling subsided.

"Squall" a soft voice said in his mind, "His name is Squall"

"What?" he said out loud and looked up. Rinoa was staring at him, surprised Squall fell onto the floor. Rinoa helped him up, "What's wrong Squall? What's going on?" she had a stern face on as she stared deeply into his eyes.

"Nothing" Squall replied before quickly adding, "You don't need to know"

Squall was back on the floor before he knew it. He looked up at Rinoa with her arms stretched out from pushing him. "What do you mean I don't need to know?" tears were forming into her eyes, pure rage on her face.

"I've barely seen you for weeks. You won't tell me what's going on, you don't even look into my eyes when I talk to you anymore! And then you almost die yesterday and all you have to tell me is that I don't need to know? Squall I'm worried about you, what is it that you can't tell me?"

Squall slowly got up and stared at her speechless. She looked like she was ready to fall into his arms from so much anger, as she leaned forward ready to descend Squall opened his arms to catch her. But instead of falling Rinoa took off down the hallway, not wanting to take comfort in someone she didn't understand.

Rinoa ran down the end of the hallway and turned a corner so that she was out of Squall's view, she stopped to catch her anger. She had tried to keep her respect for Squall when he left her out of missions and ignored her for weeks. She remembered yesterday when she heard about the incident, how something struck at her heartstrings. She knew she couldn't let Squall keep to himself like he had once did, she feared he would become cold again, forgetting the love they shared, the love that warmed his heart. If she went one more day without seeing him, without lying in his arms in protection from all the evils of the world, and lost him, she would lose her whole world.

"Squall, what are you afraid of?" She thought clutching the ring of her mothers and the one that was replicated to look like Squall's griever ring. Holding both in her hand gave her hope and strength. She sighed and decided to wait until after he got back from Hawkwind, until then she would lay down in her room alone. She just needed some time to think.

She walked all the way to the dorm room Headmaster Cid kindly let her use and fell on her bed, passing Angelo who greeted her at the door. She turned onto her stomach and gently petted her dog.

"I know I should be spending time with him instead of doing this" she told her companion who panted in pleasure, she scratched behind his ear.

"But I just can't face him right now"

She sighed and looked up at her ceiling in deep thought.

"So… I only have to pilot on the way there, right?" asked Zell who was nervous about flying all the way to Trabia to pick up Selphie and Irvine. He was waiting for Selphie to get back and pilot the Ragnarok.

"Don't worry Zell you can keep your anticipation low, you'll be fine!" said his former instructor with a broad smile, most likely because she wasn't accompanying Squall and Zell this time.

Squall was already on the Ragnarok ready to go. Zell came in and took his place at the pilot seat, and without saying a word he started up the engine and took off into the sky for Hawkwind.

"Man am I glad Selphie's comin' back, aren't you?"

Zell tried making light conversation, but Squall said nothing and stared at the ground. Zell took in a deep sigh and changed his facial expression.

"Look man, about Rinoa… I mean you know how girls are. But what's been happening lately…. man are you ok?"

"I'm fine" Squall said in a monotone voice, his anger was boiling slowly. So the others had seen the quarrel after all, it didn't matter though, soon Zell would start rambling about fighting or something else Squall didn't know and could care less to know about.

"Psh,Yea. Right." Said Zell, obviously knowing Squall was lying.

"Think what you want" Squall thought "This may be for the best"


	12. Episode 11: Where I Belong

Squall could almost feel the chilling air of Trabia as soon as the Ragnarok entered the border. Zell kept a lookout for the small Village of Hawkwind, which was hidden behind the snowy mountains of the Trabia continent.

"There it is!" said Zell seeing the small igloo shaped houses of the village. He directed the Ragnarok to descend its flight. It came close to a perfect landing just outside the skirts of the Village.

Squall and Zell looked around as the entered the village. Everywhere there seemed to be some kind of activity happening, someone was running around doing errands, taking care of the junior students, or making food.

An enticing smell of the Village's dinner traveled on the icy air. Squall noticed his companion's mouth water at the smell, he too started to feel hunger but quickly ignored the feeling, there was a job that had to be done.

"We're here on a mission, don't forget that," Squall said solemnly to his companion who groaned in response.

"Aw man but I'm starving," said Zell holding his stomach, Squall continued his pace before spotting a young girl around Selphie's age with brown hair, wearing a pink and black striped sweater.

She looked at him as he came closer "Hey, it's you" she called out, "Selphie's friends, right?"

Zell scratched his head, "Yea that's us…but who are you?"

"I'm Melissa, Selphie's best friend"

"Oh!" said Zell a bit embarrassed, Squall remembered the girl from Trabia Garden after the missiles had crashed down,

"Where is Selphie?" he asked her.

"She's still repairing Garden with Irvine, you can catch them before they head back to the village" she added. Squall wondered if she knew about the urgency of their mission.

"Thanks." He stated heading towards the Ragnarok

"Oh you don't need to take THAT" Melissa cried looking at the massive airship

"The fastest way to get through the mountains is by chocobo! Here I'll get you some"

Squall and Zell exchanged glances but never said a word when they were handed the reigns of the large birds, Squall just hoped that they would be fast enough to reach Garden on time.

The chocobo's proved to be a much better source of transportation since they knew the pathways of the mountains by heart. Unfortunately the animals became exhausted and had to stop for a short rest.

"We can't wait now" Squall responded seeing Trabia in the distance "Come on, we have to hurry"

Both SeeD's got off their chocobo's, Squall not looking back when Zell accidentally got caught in the reigns, and headed towards Trabia Garden. The construction work was coming along well. The once cracked pavement was now smooth and fresh; in fact the school barely looked like it had been hit by missile.

"So…how're we going to find Selphie?" asked Zell

"We'll ask around and see if-"

"ZELL! SQUALL!" A girl clad in yellow cried running behind them, crashing into Zell with a bear hug and ultimately knocking him to the ground.

"Glad to see you too Selphie" the poor cadet muttered to the concrete floor

Another male voice spoke "Selphie what're you doing? Get offa him! I'm sure he doesn't wanna talk with floor in his mouth!"

"Oh, sorry Zell!" She said giggling. She lifted herself off the cadet and ran towards Irvine Kinneas, the sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden.

Zell stood up wearily and rubbed the back of his neck before doing a double take. "Squall…are you seein what I'm seein here?"

"Yea…"

"Selphie…and Irvine, they actually look…"

"You guys have changed a lot!" Selphie exclaimed. The two SeeD's in front of her had let their hair grow out more since they had departed.

"Well you have too!" Zell said looking at her. Although her height hadn't change she had cut her hair so it had lost its curl and her yellow dress had changed to one that looked less childish, her boots and laced wrists were a sure sign of Irvine's influence. Irvine had finally taken his hair out of his ponytail and let it fall down freely over his shoulders.

"Are you guys ready? We need to get going," said Squall wanting to get back on the Ragnarok.

"Yea! We were just 'bout to head back to Hawkwind" said Irvine "You guys brought chocobo's here with you right?"

Zell nodded as Irvine and Selphie headed for the chocobo's they had brought with them, Squall followed suit.

"Only four? Yer kiddin!" Irvine exclaimed as Squall filled them in about what they had missed.

"That's so horrible!" said Selphie with a frown, "I wonder how it happened"

"That's not all…" Squall said really hating to have to repeat bad news "I just got back from Esthar, the place was attacked by some organization of teenagers dressed in black, they took Ellone" Squall paused for a moment to allow Irvine and Selphie let out a gasp

"Aw Man, not again!" Irvine said shaking his head

"Yea, really" Selphie agreed

"We've come to believe that the organization may be in league with the new ruler of Galbadia, Sorceress Sinistra"

"Sorceress?" the bouncy brunette perked up her ears at the word.

Zell decided to join in "Yea, another bastard Sorceress, and chances are she ain't nothing like our Matron or Rinoa, it just pisses me off so much that I could just-" Caught in his speech and anger Zell made a fist and swung it down onto the chocobo he was seated on, the action happened so fast only Selphie was able to see it.

"Waaaaaarrrkkk!!!" The chocobo squealed in pain, bouncing around to get harm off of its back. Squall and Irvine stared in awe and embarrassment as Zell tried hard to stay on the birds back. Finally the chocobo was able to throw Zell off by coming to a screeching halt. Zell on the other hand was thrown into a snow pile off the trail.

"Are you ok Zell?" asked Selphie

Zells' head slowly rose over the heap of snow he was settled in. He tried to recollect everything that just happened when the Chocobo finally took a swing at his head with its beak. Dizzy, Zell fell back into the snow.

"Sorry about that back there Zell, the keepers 'round here spoil their chocobo's rotten" said Irvine when everyone had gotten back to Hawkwind and into the spare dome Selphie and Irvine were using.

"Here Zell, Drink this" Selphie said offering him some soup from the kitchen. He gratefully accepted it and drank the warm liquid slowly, trying to regain his body heat.

Squall sat in the corner of the room silent, watching Irvine finish the packing, slowly going over to his gun rack and reloading his gun with bullets for the journey back. Squall then noticed something that wasn't there before.

"Where did that come from?" he asked pointing to a winged horse engraved near the trigger "Oh, saw this down at a weapon shop and decided to get me one, kinda reminds ya of Sefie, doncha think?" The cowboy smirked looking over at Selphie who was hardly paying attention to him. She was taking out her nunchaku for the trip and giving them a good shine.

"Selphie!" A voice from outside the dome screamed, Selphie looked up from her weapon "Oh Melissa! What is it?"

"There are some monsters attacking the village, come help!" she shouted excitedly, there wasn't much to do in Hawkwind between repairing Trabia and taking care of each other, so when the occasional monster found its way inside the village many students were delighted to take it on.

"Alright let's go!" said Zell jumping up and pumping his fists, but still managing to drop the soup on the floor. He ignored it and everyone's stares as he headed out the door. Squall sighed at his companion and unsheathed his Gunblade, following him.

Hawkwind was ready for the attack of Mezmorizes and Gayla's, the weaker and younger residents were taking shelter inside while the lively bunch of students used magic as their hearts desired. Squall ran full speed at a Gayla and sliced it wide open. He looked back at the his companions who working together to take down a Mezmorize, Selphie knocking it off guard with a strong swing of her strange vision, Zell weakening it with a series of punches and Irvine delivering the final blow with his Exeter. He could see Melissa in the background using her weapon of choice, a blackjack, to tear down all the monsters around her.

"Squall!" Zell's voice shouted, Squall looked back to see a huge claw swing his way, he dodged it just in time, rolling over on the ground he quickly got back up.

"How'd a Snow Lion get into the village?" Melissa asked coming up to the group

"I don't know but I ain't gunna just stand here and find out!" Said Irvine cocking his gun and shooting at the huge monster.

"We have to take care of the other monsters too!" Said Melissa swinging at the Gaylas that were trying to interfere.

"I'll help yea!" shouted Zell going into a frenzy of punches at some Mezmorizes

Squall concentrated on the Snow Lion, while Irvine pelted it with bullets Selphie took care of support magic. The lion roared and sent a powerful Blizzaga spell their way, Squall took a hit but the effect wasn't even felt thanks to the shell Selphie equipped him with. Lifting his gunblade over his head he waited until a few more of Irvine's bullets hit the Snow lion before jabbing his blade into the now raw chest of the creature, he tried getting it back out but the lion was able to scratch him with his paw before falling over.

Shocked Squall pulled back but regained his footing, grabbing his blade still stuck in the creatures' chest. He put his hand on the trigger of his gunblade and jolted the blade out, making sure to make the trigger go off as it moved to finish the monster for good.

Squall gasped as Selphie used Cura on his wound, the rest of the monsters were retreating.

Melissa sighed in relief "that was fun" she said with a hopeful smile Selphie laughed at her friend's enthusiasm.


	13. Episode 12: Initiation in Galbadia

"Bye everyone!!!" Selphie shouted waving her arm so hard Squall thought it was going to fall off.

"Selphie you might want to hurry up, Zell doesn't wanna drive back!" Irvine teased

With one more wave the girl jumped back into the Ragnarok and took her rightful place at the pilot's seat.

"It feels so great to do this again!" She said smiling widely and turning the machine on with great ease and making the smoothest take off Squall had experienced since she left. Zell scratched the back of his head and decided not to say anything about the trouble he had flying.

"So what're we gunna do once we get home?" asked the cowboy

Zell instantly spoke "Dunno, Squall's s'pose to give a speech on Sinistra once we get back"

Squall silently sighed. He didn't want to give his speech yet, especially after repeating Laguna's message twice already. He looked at his comrades, Selphie was busy driving, Zell was tinkering with a small radio on the left side of the cockpit and Irvine seemed to be thinking with his cowboy hat shading over his eyes.

"So how's Rinoa doing?" Irvine asked, Zell turned a frightened gaze to Squall.

"She's fine," the taciturn cadet said after a few seconds, shrugging off any doubt in his voice.

"Fine huh?" Irvine didn't seem to buy it

Zell stopped paying attention and started to stare at the radio near him "hey guys…. do you hear that?"

"What is that?" asked Irvine, a small noise was starting to float in the air.

"I hear it too" Squall put in

"I thought it was just me hearin this stuff, but it sounds like…" he paused to figure out the sound

"Applause…" said Squall, "Look down below, we're right over Deling City"

Irvine spoke up "If Sinistra is in power they could be holding something for her"

"Yea, but what?" Zell asked

"Let's find out!" cried Selphie spontaneously plunging the controls down.

"HEY HEY HEY WOAH!"

"THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE HERE WITHOUT SEAT BELTS YOU KNOW!"

After a fast but smooth landing the Ragnarok came to a stop. Selphie was the first to pop out, an energetic smile on her face, Irvine tried to play it cool after the dive down-but his steps were a bit clumsy, a petrified Zell and a dazed Squall were the last to come out.

"So like…how're we gunna get in?" Irvine asked lifting up his cowboy hat to get a look at what was going on inside the capital of Galbadia. "We might get caught since we tried to assassinate a sorceress a few years back"

Through a clenched fist Zell spoke, "Yea, and who knows what kind of security that bastard has up"

Selphie looked at Squall questioningly "You guys didn't clean out the Ragnarok did you?"

He shook his head no "Why?"

Selphie did a small jump of joy and ran back inside, "Follow me!"

The cadets exchanged glances and obediently followed the bouncy brunette into the hanger of the airship.

The tiny girl opened an old looking chest and rummaged around through a myriad of clothes, hats, and wigs.

"What is this?" Zell asked with a confused face

Selphie continued to rummage, "These are all the outfits I was keeping here just incase we had to do a mission like this! Aren't we lucky?"

Squall stared at the chest in amazement, he never knew it existed.

Irvine took his hat off "well then, what're we waitin for? Let's hurry up and find out what's goin on out there!"

With casual Galbadian attire on, everyone moved towards Deling city's gates.

"There sure is a lot more security here than last time" Zell said frowning

"Who knows what precautions Sinistra's taking now that she's in charge, Galbadian leaders are known for getting into trouble with the rest of the world" Squall informed them slowly.

"Let's hope these outfits work Selphie!" Irvine said through a small gulp.

"S-Squall…hm…ha ha ha…stop it Squall!" Rinoa slowly opened her eyes to her dorm room ceiling.

"Squall?" she asked groggily realizing where she was, she looked at Angelo who was looking at her happily now that she was awake. He barked and started licking her face again.

Rinoa managed a warm smile on her face as she slowly put on her boots and turned toward the door, before her hand could reach the handle she stopped to grab Squall's ring hanging around her neck.

"I'm not loosing him…something's bothering him, and I need to talk to Quistis, maybe she can help me" With a frown she left Angelo in her room and headed for Quistis's quarters.

"What's wrong with Squall? No, I don't know" Quistis slowly put down her drink of tea in deep thought.

Rinoa grabbed one of her arms shyly "I'm worried about him, there's something he's not telling us"

"I don't know if he'd want me to tell you this-" Quistis stopped herself but decided to continue "But, somehow, I believe Ultimecia is still alive and she's using Ellone's technique to corrupt our minds. It happened at the SeeD incident, and I believe it happened again to Squall after we got the message from Selphie"

Rinoa looked at Quistis with great concern and interest, "What happened there?"

The older woman shook her head slowly and heaved a heavy sigh "It was…absurd, what happened. Magic was everywhere, it was intense and fatal, the cause of the deaths and injuries of many students. Piercing words accompanied by intense pain in the head, Squall and I were affected and maybe that one, Kain, was too."

"Have you asked him?"

"Dr. Kadowaki insists we delay questioning until all students have recovered, but I don't know if we'll have the time for that. I'm worried for Squall just like you are, but Sinistra has got me more concerned, even more so if she's after Ellone"

An idea surfaced in Rinoa's head "Uhm…is it, you know, possible if somehow Sinistra and Ultimecia were connected? Like how she was able to take over Edea and I's bodies?"

"Squall claims to have seen Ultimecia die, I don't know what Sinistra is planning…but… sorry, I'm not much consolation" an apologetic smile formed on Quistis's face for getting lost in thought.

"It's ok, I'll wait until Squall comes back and gives his speech-"

"He's not going to give that speech you know"

Rinoa looked back at Quistis who was now staring outside her window "He wouldn't want to after informing Selphie and Irvine, come to think of it he never wanted to in the first place" she began chuckling to herself

"Then why did you-?"

"It's his duty as leader of this Garden, but Squall never asked to be leader, let alone carry the duties of one, there will be trouble after he gets back I suppose" A wry look formed on her lips

Rinoa smiled sincerely "then we'll back him up, just like before right?"

Quistis Smiled back and nodded "Right."


	14. Episode 13: Black Children of SeeD

"Halt!" A Galbadian guard cried just outside of Deling city. A group of four teenagers, with a very heavy appearance of a gang, stood right in front of him.

"Yo are we late for the party yet?" a rather tall teen with long chestnut hair asked, making sure to show off his pair of shades to the man.

"Party?"

"You know, the one they be holdin up inside this city! Eh? EH?" a shorter man seemed to be hiding behind his grey hood grabbing it as he talked, making his brown haired mess move along with it.

The guard stammared for a minute "Y-Yes, the initiation, correct?"

"Yea" a monotone voice said, frowning from underneath his beanie cap.

"Go right ahead, but if you kids start causing any trouble I'm kicking your asses so far out-"

"Hey, hey now, it's all cool, we just wanna watch"

"Yea grandpa, chill"

"Yea…"

"G-Grandpa!?"

"Tee-Hee! Thank you Mr. Guard for letting us in!" cried the only girl in the group with a cheerful expression, leaving the guard completely stunned and confused.

"Hey Selphie calm down, you might blow our cover!" Irvine whispered

"Yea, I've never seen a Galbadian girl dressed like _that_ look so perky" Zell eyed Selphie's rather short red leather dress she had on, accompanied with a white jacket and wig.

"Pervert!" she yelped pulling her dress down.

Zell adjusted his wig and put his hands in his pockets deciding not to say anything.

"Calm down Selphie, whoever heard of wearing something like this?" Squall frowned at his outfit as Selphie giggled, he wore a big white shirt with the words "BAD BOY" written across the front along with a dark blue vest, tight pants, and a black beanie cap to finish it.

Irvine tried to hide his laughter as he admired his simple clothing of sunglasses, a long sleeved jacket and pants. "Sorry, but you were last; all the good ones were taken!"

"I wanted Zell's outfit" Squall said looking over at the shorter cadet.

Zell laughed nervously "Well, uh, what could I do? I have to hide my tattoo yanno!"

"You already have a hood"

"Uh…"

"And the hair should be enough for you"

"Hey! Lighten up man!"

"Guys! Shush!" Selphie snapped at them, they had made it to the Presidential Palace where an enormous crowd stood cheering.

"Is that Sinistra?" Irvine asked pointing toward a tall skinny lady with sharp, bony features. Her body was outlined in a silk blood red dress that opened up at the top to expose some of her chest. Perhaps though, the most revealing thing about her was the helmet she wore: it was decorated with gems and let out her long slender white and black streaked hair that fell to her ankles; but coming out of the helmet were two demon wings the color of sapphire.

Squall watched carefully as she smiled venomously at the audience's applause and stepped up to the microphone.

"Live in fear no longer! With the children at Galbadia Garden we can surely have enough of a supply to feed to the army and the new institute I am proud to present to you here today. As of now, 100 students currently attending Galbadia Garden have had the honor of being handpicked by myself to serve in Galbadia's Black SeeD Organization!"

Selphie gasped "Black SeeD?"

Zell clenched a fist "No way! SeeD was Matron's idea! There's no way I'm letting this bitch get away with manipulating it!"

"Zell calm down," Squall urged "we're still in Galbadian ground, don't give us away"

Sinistra continued with a wicked grin, never taking her eyes off the crowd for a second "I would like to present to you the top notch SeeD's here with honor, lead by General Sole" she gestured to a strong looking man with black hair, broad shoulders, and a cold stare in his eyes, he stood up and did a salute.

"Sorceress Sinistra, the Black SeeD Organization will follow you even when hell knocks on our door, we shall not back down on any cause until you achieve your goals and let us go." His words were strict and inspiring, Sinistra grinned with approval.

"Citizens! Follow me and you shall be granted what your hearts desire, no more war, no more bloodshed, and a perfect world for all. The day the Dollet Empire will once again reign is near!"

Squall cringed as the uproar of applause and praise erupted around him, through it all he could barely see Zell mouth the words "She's kidding, right?"

"How could all these guys approve of something so farfetched?" Irvine wondered

Zell lifted his hands off his ears to speak but then something crossed his face "hey guys, listen, I think I hear chants"

"Chants?" Selphie asked plugging her ears "I hear it!"

Squall followed suit, instantly the words were made clearer "SINISTRA REINS ONCE MORE…LOYAL SERVANTS…. RISE AGAIN…HEAR SINISTRA'S VOICE…AND RISE AGAIN…" it was quite hard to make out the whole message and Squall even tried listening to it again to make sure he heard right

"What's this crap about rising again?" Zell asked.

"Is it brainwash?" cried Selphie.

Squall felt incredibly upset, and from the looks on everyone's faces they were just as mad as he was "We can't figure this out now, let's head back and report this to Headmaster Cid"

Everyone agreed and scrambled away from the gathering until they were sure they couldn't hear the voice anymore.

"Cid's still at Garden? I thought he took a break to be with Matron," said Irvine

Zell laughed "he can't stay away from garden no matter what he does; he came back after the incident."

"Laguna, we're sorry about letting them take Ellone," a sympathetic Kiros said to his friend

Laguna sighed, "It's not your fault, it would have happened either way; I just thought I could handle it this time"

Kiros spoke for Ward "You're not blaming yourself for all of this are you?"

Laguna tried to ignore the question. He rubbed the back of his head in frustration "ah…the costs for this mess are pretty high and there's still monsters running around… and all they did was attack the Palace!"

"Laguna, you're going to search for her again aren't you?" Kiros eyed the president intensely.

Laguna shook his head "I don't have a lead in the first place, looking for her would be useless right now"

His two friends exchanged glances "and Squall? We heard about the incident, and we know you told him about Sinistra this time"

"I don't know, he seemed to have taken it pretty well"

"It would have been a lot easier if you would have just told him in the first place" Wards eyes shown with rebuke.

Laguna sighed, "I know, there's not much more we can do now but wait and-"

"Sir!"

President Loire turned around to look at an Esthar guard saluting him at the door

"What is it?"

"A pair of Timber residents requests to see you. They say it has something to do with Sorceress Sinistra"

"Uh…yes! Bring them in!"

Kiros looked directly into Laguna's eyes "perhaps that's your lead."

"Maybe…If Sinistra's really behind-"

"Mr. President Loire!"

"Mr. President, Sir! It's a pleasure to meet you, sir!"

Kiros and Ward stood silent as Laguna put a broad smile on his face "Yes, so you say you have info on Sinistra for me then?"

"Super info, sir!"

"Alright, let's hear it"


	15. Episode 14: Eye of the Squall

When the Ragnarok finally arrived in the new airship landing ground, Squall was the last to come out. He saw Quistis and Nida at the bottom of the ramp welcoming Irvine and Selphie back from their long trip. Squall let a small smile sneak onto his lips at their enthusiasm as he slowly descended down the ramp.

Out of the corner of his eye Squall could see Rinoa's blue outfit make an entrance in the doorway with hands behind her back and an aloof appearance until she came closer to him where she smiled widely.

"Welcome back Squall" she said it so softly it was barely above a whisper, he nodded slowly and gave her a smile, instantly she became more open to him and laughed. Squall didn't look back at the others, who he knew were staring at them, instead he walked towards the door leading into Balamb Garden hoping no one would bother him as he did, Rinoa followed him slowly, beaming inside and out.

Suddenly Xu appeared in the doorway looking alarmed, she noticed the taciturn hero and gave a salute "Oh Squall! There you are, welcome back!"

Squall silently sighed to himself; he was hoping that things were finally going to go back to normal, at least for a while.

"I'm sorry to ask this but…Headmaster Cid wishes to see you in his old office" said Xu

Squall slowly nodded and continued walking, leaving Rinoa behind.

Rinoa avoided Xu's sympathetic stare and sighed turning back towards Irvine and Selphie.

"Rinoa…" Irvine said softly, hating to see her sad, Selphie noticed this and tried to keep her happy tone.

"Rinny! I haven't seen you in so long! How're you doing!? Oh there's so much we have to catch up on!"

"Hey Sefie I don't think-" Irvine started while Zell cut in "Let it go Irvine, Squall's been like this for weeks" Everyone then watched as Selphie did her innocent act of distracting Rinoa from Squall and waited for him to return.

Squall made his way silently to Cid's office, when he saw the headmaster he did a garden salute but Cid quickly gestured for him to stop.

"I'm not the headmaster of this garden anymore, you don't have to salute me" he said laughing. Squall stood still, shocked, but decided to let Cid continue.

"We've finally decided about the SeeD's, I'm sure Xu gave you the reports before you left, right?"

"Uh…yea" Squall remembered receiving them but hadn't even bothered to look at them "I might've just glanced at them though" this caused Cid to laugh once more.

"That's quite alright, there's not much more for you to know, I never stressed myself with details anyway. Everyone has decided to have the burial for the students in Balamb, the SeeD Inauguration will be held there as well"

"So you're passing the rest off to SeeD just because they survived?"

Cid looked at Squall grimly "Only three are passing this year, one isn't qualified for SeeD anymore. He'll remain in Garden until he can function on his own"

The young man remained silent, Cid decided to continue speaking "That's what was decided. I was hoping you'd be able to give us your opinion before we took any more action"

Squall held his head in his hand and thought for a moment before deciding, "Fine. I'll get Nida up here and inform the students"

Dr. Kadowaki sat in her office listening to the everlasting sounds of ocean tide while she scribbled out a prescription on her trusty clipboard. She heard the door to the infirmary slide open and looked up "Oh Kain, I didn't expect to see you back here so soon!"

The boy slowly moved his eyes around the room before shyly smiling "I came back for my stuff"

"Oh yes that's right! Sorry, I have so many students to tend to I can't keep track of them all! Ellyn was released yesterday and now I have another one ready to go today, just wait for moment, alright?"

Kain nodded and sat on one of the benches, taking in the gray skies gathering outside. Kain hated being in the ocean, too much rain, not to mention his slight discomfort with the movement of the ocean waves.

Another glance back to Kadowaki's table and he saw a tall boy with spiked blonde hair stretching his limbs, looking relieved to be up. Their eyes locked and the boy smiled.

"Hey, you're from the incident too right?"

Kain nodded.

"Name's Roy, I'm from Squad A, I just heard we got accepted into SeeD!"

Kain remained silent, if nothing had happened he would've been too happy to contain himself, but the news didn't surprise him or make him the least bit happy.

Just then Dr. Kadowaki walked in with both her hands full "Kain, here're your things, and Roy don't forget your medicine!" both boys took their possessions and left without another word between them.

After Squall had informed the students it wasn't long until Garden was on its way to the shores of Balamb.

Nida held the rudder tight in his sweating palms "Squall, are you sure we should keep going today? The winds seem to be picking up"

"We're fine for now, keep going" the leader said solemnly just as thunder roared in the distance.

Nida shakily sighed, "Whatever you say" he frowned at the weather, it was starting to become darker and the winds were beginning to make the Garden rock more than usual. He looked at Squall who had an unreadable expression on his face and then at Xu who really didn't seem to be paying attention. Suddenly a huge wave nearly knocked Nida away from the steering wheel.

"A storm…" he groaned quietly "Sir!" he called to Squall but the Garden Leader was already aware of it. He knew that they didn't have a choice now; the water would take them wherever it pleased. A tremendous wave hit again as water started to pour down from the sky. Squall took a deep breath.

"Nida! Steer this thing to shore at the best of your ability!"

Another strong force hit and the Garden continued to rock violently, Squall fell back a bit before ramming against a wall, still he continued shouting orders "Xu! Get on the speaker! Tell the students to stay in their dorms and all other activities to be postponed!" Xu rushed over to the speaker.

"And please…. tell the others to-"

Just then Rinoa busted into the room, she looked awfully concerned "Squall!" she cried "Let me help you this time, I know with my powers I can-"

"Rinoa I need you to stay safe"

Her expression stiffened "Please, Let me show you, I can be of some help, I'm tired of waiting around and feeling as if I don't do anything…I'm a Sorceress! If I can just-" she looked at her hands that formed into white fists.

Squall wouldn't look her way "I don't want you to"

"_**I **_want to"

"…I…can't let you" Squall wanted more than anything for Nida and Xu to not be present, it was bad enough he was hurting Rinoa, but he didn't want to take any more risks.

Rinoa's face tightened "I can't believe you Squall!" she stormed out, Squall made an instant move to go after her but Xu, who had just finished her announcement yelled at him "You can't leave! We need you to help navigate the garden!" there was a hint of sympathy in her voice, Squall stared at her for a minute and agreed.

Not too far from Garden two figures stood near the ocean tides equipping themselves with gear to a water speedster. One a tall stern looking girl with long dark red hair, half of it held back. The other a tall but somewhat lanky boy with brown hair that was held up by his headband and the rest was put in a ponytail. Both were garbed in black outfits that bore a silver diamond on the sleeves.

"So that's Garden eh?" the boy smirked

The girl looked at the massive thing in disgust "Don't get too excited, we wouldn't want your brain to fry out before the mission starts"

The boy scoffed "What're you getting at Rose?"

"Nothing, it's too much for your pathetic little mind to handle anyway so why don't you just act like the dog you are, Perry, and shut up"

"Geez, someone's in a bad mood" Perry pouted "must be that time of the month"

Rose glared and threw her accomplices helmet at him. "How could Sole stick me on a mission with such a bonehead? I have a higher rank I shouldn't be with a rookie"

"Live with it" said Perry getting on his speedster "Let's just get this over with"

Rose sighed and spoke into a watch on her wrist "Mission A89O52: Observe Balamb Garden, begin!" she jumped onto her speedster and took off right away.

Perry watched the rainfall onto his hand "Could've picked a better day to start" he shrugged it off and went off on his speedster as well.

Balamb Garden shook violently; a repeated announcement to get into dorms still rang in the abandoned second floor hallway as Rinoa steadily walked her way to the balcony. Slowly she put her hand on the knob of the door to the balcony and thrusted it open. The storm had grown worse and rain was pouring violently into the sea, Rinoa grabbed a hold of the wall almost slipping on water as she stepped out. She inched over to the edge and looked at the roaring seas gasping for air, it was hard to breathe with so much air and water forcing itself into her lungs and the wind was whipping hair into her face. Through the commotion the sorceress raised a weary hand and started to concentrate. The garden took a dive from a huge wave and the sorceress's concentration was cut off as the taste of salt water entered her mouth. After the wave she was left coughing and breathing deeply, the water was extremely cold and she was shivering, her body was beginning to feel weak and numb.

Rinoa silently prayed for her powers to work "Hyne…please help me do this…I _**can **_do this…" she looked up, another wave was heading towards her, her eyes widened but all she could think to do was concentrate.

Rose sped off trying to dodge the waves, it was a horrible condition to be in and she feared she couldn't steer away from the garden in time. Her eyes looked over to her right when she heard a loud scream; overhead someone was on the school's balcony struggling to keep their footing.

"A girl…?" Rose asked herself in thought. Just then something fell onto her speedster. Two rings attached to a chain; the chain and one of the rings fell into the water before her hand could grab them, though she did manage to get the other ring and force it on her finger.

Just then a wave pushed her into the garden, another one, the biggest one yet, was inching its way towards Garden. Rose looked up to see the girl with her hand stretched out at the water, stretching in an eerily frantic way.

Like magic the wave froze and started to disintegrate, Rose could feel the waves start to die down and over head the rain fell to a small drizzle, the sun was starting to peer out from the clouds.

Rose couldn't hold her expression still, "That's not just any girl, that's a sorceress! Perry!" she went to speed off only to find Perry floating in the water not too far from her. She sighed and went over to pick him up.

"I told him this was too much for you," she growled as she sped off to shore.

Rinoa looked at her hand as the storm rapidly deceased "I…did it!" she gasped not even believing her own power for a moment, the surrounding clouds were still gray and the rain was still falling but the sea had stopped its angry waves enough for the Garden to safely make its way to Balamb.

"I knew it…" she closed her eyes taking in the sunlight. It warmed her damp skin. "Thank Hyne" she whispered.


End file.
